Calpers, Calstrs Want Bank of America to Separate Roles of Chairman, CEO
August 31 2015 - 9:15PM
Dow Jones News
By Joann S. Lublin
Two major public pension funds joined the drive for Bank of
America Corp. shareholders to oppose a corporate bylaw change that
lets Brian Moynihan serve as both chief executive and chairman.
California Public Employees' Retirement System and California
State Teachers' Retirement System sent a letter Monday to the bank
disclosing they will vote against the change. Calpers and Calstrs
are the biggest and second biggest pension funds in the U.S. by
assets. Together, the two funds own 63.6 million Bank of America
shares, valued at about $1 billion and representing less than 1% of
the total shares outstanding.
Bank board members angered some investors last October by
deciding to change the bank's bylaws and give the chairman role to
Mr. Moynihan, their CEO for more than five years. The board didn't
consult institutional investors ahead of the switch, even though
shareholders had voted in 2009 that the jobs of chairman and CEO
must be held by different individuals. The earlier rule won
approval during the depths of the financial crisis.
Bowing to shareholder complaints just before its annual meeting
last May, the bank announced plans to let investors vote on the
board's decision. That vote occurs at a Sept. 22 special
shareholder meeting.
In a letter sent Monday to the bank's lead director Jack O.
Bovender, the funds said, "Since Mr. Moynihan's appointment as CEO
in January 2010, the company has continued to underperform" its
peers. The letter continued: "We do not believe now is the time to
reduce oversight of management by combining the roles of CEO and
chair."
A Bank of America spokesman said he hadn't seen the letter and
had no immediate comment.
Write to Joann S. Lublin at joann.lublin@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 31, 2015 21:00 ET (01:00 GMT)
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