The last shoe has dropped for embattled CEO Ken Lewis at Bank of America with the announcement of his retirement today as noted by Bloomberg News Ken Lewis Steps Down, No Successor Named.
A federal judge this month rejected a $33 million settlement between the bank and the SEC tied to the bonuses, asking whether the bank had lied to shareholders and why the company’s executives haven’t been sued. Andrew Cuomo, the New York attorney general, has said he’s deciding whether to bring charges against executives. In a statement today, Cuomo said Lewis’s departure won’t affect his probe.
If the NYS AG indicts Lewis for lying to shareholders about the Merrill merger then wouldn't Bernanke and Paulson also have legal culpability here as accomplices before the fact? It is seemingly acknowledged that the Merrill Deal was forced on B of A by the Fed chairman and the Treasury secretary, that must be some kind of violation of law? In fact, much of the Fed's actions that have saved capitalism yet again were done without legal authority. Perhaps Bernanke should have been indicted rather than reappointed?
Apologies for brevity, but no diary to comment on issue.