Bank of America Lacks Proper Oversight Says Analyst Mike Mayo

Beleaguered Bank of America (BAC) shareholders are about to be heard. Bank of America filed a preliminary proxy with the SEC last Friday that paves the way for shareholders to vote on whether or not the Chairman and CEO roles could be recombined. For many shareholders, the chance to vote is long overdue. In October 2014, Bank of America’s board amended its bylaws to allow the roles of Chairman and CEO to be merged. The change to bylaws undid a binding shareholder vote from 2009 that mandated that the roles be kept separate. To hear the bank tell it, the resignation of the bank’s previous chairman, Charles Holliday Jr in October provided the bank with an opportunity to review its management structure. It ultimately found that its current CEO Brian Moynihan was well suited to assume both roles. The bank also argued that its new management structure was consistent with many firms in the Fortune 500 as well as the bank’s immediate peers such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC).