BofA's Board Shuffle An Ode to Shareholders

Bank of America (BAC) is listening to its shareholders.

In the two months that have elapsed since BofA's annual meeting, the firm has ousted six board members. The most recent departures were announced quietly late Friday evening in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

First, the board stripped President and CEO Ken Lewis of his chairman title, something shareholders had supported in a nonbinding vote. Then it ousted six more directors, some of whom were the least popular among shareholders, according to the vote, and were the target of activist campaigns.

The most recent departures consisted of two directors with great military resumes, but little apparent experience in banking, regulation or serving on the boards of public companies at all: Retired, high-profile Army General Tommy Franks, who led attacks against the Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and retired Admiral Joseph Prueher, a former U.S. ambassador to China.

Walter Massey, who replaced Lewis as chairman, is likely to depart in less than a year as well, as he nears the mandatory retirement age of 72. In the meantime, he has charged ahead with a board restructuring plan that seems to hold much promise. A review led by Massey resulted in the nomination of four new directors earlier this month, all of whom have significant experience in banking or bank regulation.

Arguably, BofA's board today looks like it should have before the crisis took hold.

A few are veterans with a long history at Bank of America, including Lewis and Massey, and former chairman Charles Gifford. Others honed their chops in the financial world outside of BofA, whether Frank Bramble, the former CEO of MBNA, the credit-card giant BofA acquired in 2005; Charles Rossotti, a senior advisor at the private equity powerhouse The Carlyle Group; Gary Countryman, chairman emeritus and director of Liberty Mutual; or new additions William Boardman, former executive of Bank One and Visa (V), and D. Paul Jones, former CEO of Compass Bancshares.