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In return for avoiding a vote on the resolution
at its springtime annual meeting, Bank of America agreed to
produce a report on its corporate culture and business
practices, said Seamus Finn, chair of the Interfaith Center on
Corporate Responsibility.
It had sponsored the resolution and recently forced JPMorgan
Chase & Co to complete a similar review.
Bank of America spokesman James Mahoney confirmed the deal with
the activist group.
Finn said getting such a report completed was a higher priority
than forcing a leadership change at the bank, based in
Charlotte, N.C. His group has pushed financial institutions to
do more to acknowledge their role in the 2008 global financial
crisis.
But Moynihan took over the bank after the worst of the crisis,
Finn said, making it easier to argue he can hold both titles.
"He has delivered for the bank and he's the leader they want to
run with," he said.
Finn also credited the bank with naming Jack Bovender as its
lead independent director in October as it gave Moynihan the
additional title.
While various critics have urged banks to maintain independent
board chairman to improve oversight, Bank of America gave
Bovender new duties it said were in line with best corporate
governance practices.
Bank of America spokesman Mahoney declined to comment on another
request from two big pension funds for a vote on Moynihan's new
dual role as chair and CEO. They have asked the bank to hold a
binding vote on the change at the company's springtime
shareholder meeting.
(Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
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