Shareholders making their way to
Bank of America’s annual meeting in uptown Charlotte on Wednesday may find
themselves weaving through scores of protesters angry over everything from
coal-project financing to executive pay.
The shareholders have concerns of
their own: Bank of America’s stock price has fallen nearly 40 percent since
last year’s annual meeting in Charlotte. And despite a modest rebound so far in
2012, the lender’s performance still lags its big-bank peers.
While protesters and shareholders have
vastly different concerns, they do have one major issue in common: the bad
mortgages that continue to weigh down the bank.
Subprime mortgages contributed to
hundreds of thousands of people losing their homes. They also have cost the
bank billions in legal settlements and loan losses.
Protesters want to see a halt to
foreclosures. Shareholders, weary of write-downs and legal costs, are eager for
the bank to put the mortgage issues behind it and focus on growth.
No comments:
Post a Comment