Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) has made some serious corporate governance news that could change how the bank’s oversight is handled in the years ahead. The company announced on Wednesday that its board of directors has elected Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan as the chairman of the board of directors. What investors will care about is that the effective date is immediately.
Moynihan will succeed Charles Holliday, Jr. in the transition. Another announcement came that Jack Bovender Jr. will become the board’s lead independent director. Bovender has been a member of BofA’s board of directors since August 2012.
Brian Moynihan became chief executive officer at Bank of America and became a member of the board of directors of back on January 1, 2010. It is not highly unusual that the CEO of a major bank is the chairman as well, but investors will want to know that this will put Moynihan’s vision of where to take BofA front and center.
The move is not likely to create any instant changes in the direction of the bank. After all, the Federal Reserve and regulatory bodies still have a large sphere of influence over the direction and actions of major banks and financials deemed too large to fail. That being said, Moynihan is likely to now face far less internal challenges if and when he wants to take an action.
Wednesday’s move in BofA was down by 1.3% to $16.82, but that was on a day that the broad markets saw a large sell-off in general.
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