January 06, 2011, 10:34 AM EST Moynihan Fights Fires at BofA Amid Book-Value Doubts By Hugh SON:
Jan. 4 [2011] (Bloomberg) -- Brian T. Moynihan spent his first year as Bank of America Corp.’s chief executive officer putting out fires smoldering from the financial crisis. In 2011, he’ll do it all over again.
Since succeeding Kenneth D. LEWIS on Jan. 1, 2010, MOYNIHAN, 51, has struggled to stanch loan losses and a surge of litigation at the biggest U.S. lender while trying to mend relations with customers, regulators and investors. He paid $2.8 billion last week to government-owned companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to settle claims the bank sold them defective mortgages, a major step toward resolving liabilities taken on with the 2008 purchase of Countrywide Financial Corp.
“Brian’s got his hands totally full dealing with the internal issues and the external focus on some of the problems of the company,” Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone Group LP, the world’s biggest buyout firm, said in an interview. “He is in firefighter mode, dealing with fires that will be contained but need attention.”
A year ago, Moynihan pledged to improve customer service and assigned more than 26,000 employees to help delinquent homeowners. By last month, at least two states sued, claiming the bank foreclosed on people enrolled in loan-modification programs. Moynihan supported the Obama administration’s push to protect consumers, only to see new regulations blow an estimated $4 billion hole in annual revenue. When he told investors Dec. 7 the dividend may be restored in 2011, the shares, instead of jumping, slid by 7 cents.
WikiLeaks Challenge
“Moynihan needs to win the confidence of the markets, which he obviously doesn’t have now,” said Marty MOSBY, a Nashville, Tennessee-based analyst at GUGGENHEIM Securities LLC, which manages more than $100 billion, including 1.9 million Bank of America shares. “If he doesn’t do well in 2011, it will be hard to change that perception.”...
SOURCE / LINK / QUELLE dieses Ausschnitts: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-01-06/...book-value-doubts.html ----------- Den Vorhang AUF, der Krimi geht weiter... |