Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 10:13pm CDT | Modified: Thursday, April 30, 2009, 9:47am
Bank of America CEO loses chairman seat
Houston Business Journal


Kenneth Lewis has been replaced as chairman of the board at Bank of America Corp.

The company announced the move Wednesday evening. The change follows the bank’s annual meeting where shareholders voted 50.3 percent in favor of a resolution to separate the roles of chairman of the board and CEO. Lewis had held both positions.

The board appointed Walter Massey as the new chairman. Massey has been a director for the bank since 1998 and is a member of its audit committee. He also is a director at McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE:MCD).

Lewis will remain as the company’s CEO after the board unanimously backed him Wednesday afternoon. He also maintains his seat on the board.

Jonathan Finger, a principal with Houston-based Finger Interests Number One Ltd., which owns 1.1 million shares of BofA and led a proxy fight against the banking giant, was disappointed with Massey's selection.

“While we are happy that shareholders voted to separate the chairman and CEO positions, we are disappointed that the board apparently did not consider looking outside the current directors for a truly independent chairman," Finger said. "We're hopeful that Massey will exert true independence.â€