Bank of America officials asked to testify
Three Bank of America officials with Boston ties have been asked to testify at a congressional hearing later this month.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has asked two key board members, former FleetBoston Financial chief executive Charles K. Gifford, NStar chief executive Thomas May, as well as senior bank executive Brian Moynihan to testify at hearing on Nov. 17, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The hearing will focus on Bank of America's controversial $50 billion acquisition of troubled investment bank Merrill Lynch. Moynihan was the company's chief counsel at the time the deal was completed on Jan. 1. Former chief counsel Timothy J. Mayopolous, who Moynihan replaced, is also expected to testify. The hearing was originally slated to be held last month, but was postponed to allow the committee to do additional inquiries.
Bank of America, which received $45 billion in government aid, has been accused of misleading shareholders about the acquisition by failing to disclose the extent of Merrill Lynch's mounting losses and the fact that Bank of America gave Merrill Lynch permission to issue $5.8 billion in bonuses. In addition, committee investigators are trying to determine whether Bank of America threatened to back out of the deal in December in order to pressure the government to give it additional aid.
In addition to the public hearing, committee investigators plan to privately interview Moynihan on Nov. 11. Committee members had originally hoped to interview both Gifford and May before the hearing as well, but do not currently plan to do so.
Moynihan, who now runs the company's sprawling consumer banking units and lives in Wellesley, is considered one of the leading candidates to replace Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis when Lewis retires at the end of the year.
"Anybody would want this job, it's one of the best jobs in the business," Moynihan told Reuters news service on Wednesday on the sidelines of a speaking appearance in Los Angeles.
But Moynihan also acknowledged the possibility that he may not land the job. Some shareholders, such as Houston investment firm Finger Interests Number One Ltd., have pushed the company to consider an outside candidate.
"This is a great company and I will continue to do a great job for it, no matter what the outcome," Moynihan said.
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