BofA Will Lay Off 35K

Slumping profits are 'payback' from Main Street whipped by bad practices

(NEWSER) - Those concerned about the nation’s banks should forget about the “softly, softly policy” of the Obama administration that has allowed Goldman Sachs to go back to business as usual in spectacular fashion. The real problem, Paul Krugman writes, is banks like Citi and Bank of America that are still floundering despite taxpayer largess. And the calculus remains the same: “Heads they win, tails the rest of us lose.” More»

Fired Merill CEO tries to 'set the record straight' about $3.6B payout

(NEWSER) - In his first lengthy interview since being pushed out as CEO of Merrill Lynch, John Thain tells the Wall Street Journal that Bank of America—which acquired Merrill in September—is lying about its involvement in the $3.6 billion in bonus payouts that made Thain the poster boy for corporate greed. “Getting fired is one thing,” Thain said. “But nobody has the right to say things that they know aren't true.” More»

Shareholders kept in the dark to ensure deal

(NEWSER) - Bank of America's CEO felt pressured by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury chief Henry Paulson to withhold details of last year's Merrill Lynch acquisition from shareholders, including mounting losses at Merrill that triggered a $20 billion bailout, the Wall Street Journal reports. BofA CEO Ken Lewis said in testimony examined by the Journal that he believed regulators wanted him to keep quiet about Merrill’s $15.84 billion fourth-quarter losses so shareholders wouldn’t block the deal. More»

(NEWSER) - Companies looking to cut labor costs are increasingly turning to salary reductions rather than further layoffs in an attempt to save employee morale, the Chicago Tribune reports. One extreme case is Acco Brands in Illinois, which imposed a six-week, 47% reduction for all workers instead of downsizing. "It's an alternative to permanent reductions in force," an Acco spokesman says. More»

(NEWSER) - John Thain may have lost his job running Merrill Lynch, but woe to the CEO who dared merge with him, the Economist reports. Thain no doubt trashed his reputation by failing to tell BofA chief Ken Lewis about looming losses—and handing out multimillion-dollar bonuses in the meantime—but Lewis, who booted Thain this week, appears reckless for ever approving the Merrill merger. More»