BoA chief defends his track record
OUTGOING chief executive of Bank of America Ken Lewis yesterday defended his controversial tenure and said the bank is now primed to become a world-class company.
“I am confident history will show that our actions … in building Bank of America positioned our company for future success,” Lewis told analysts at a Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference in New York. “As I look ahead, I see no reason that Bank of America will not be among the handful of the most important and most successful financial services companies in the world.”
Lewis said yesterday the Merrill Lynch merger is ahead of schedule and has produced $2.2bn (£1.3bn) in cost savings through to September 30, more than originally forecast.
He said Bank of America expects to achieve 45 per cent of the total cost savings by the end of this year, compared with the company’s early projection of 25 per cent.
Lewis has said he will retire at the end of the year, even though the bank has not decided who will succeed him.