BofA Fired Top Lawyer to Retain Moynihan, SEC Says
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Former Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis fired the bank’s general counsel in December 2008 to prevent the departure of Brian Moynihan, Lewis’s eventual successor, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said.
The SEC responded in a court filing today to questions posed by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff as he weighs whether to accept a proposed $150 million settlement of an SEC lawsuit against the bank. One of the eight questions concerned whether Timothy Mayopoulos was fired in retaliation for requesting broader disclosure by the bank before its acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co.