North Carolina A.G. Roy Cooper looks to be getting into the banking mess — and that’s a great thing. Cooper is smart and doesn’t overreach, his plain-spokenness will be helpful on the public front and he’s not afraid of a fight.
His office announced that it has requested information about bonuses from Bank of America. From Bloomberg:
“I expect an explanation from the Board as to the appropriateness of any bonuses while public money is being provided to the bank,” Cooper said in a letter yesterday to the company provided by his office. “Bank of America should disclose immediately the total amount of bonuses planned to be distributed this month.”
This is great. Shaming the banks after the fact does no good, and regulatory changes are going to take some time. Even the stress tests will take some time. But this is immediate, and a non-response — in this environment — is unacceptable.
A great move from AG Cooper.
[UPDATE: More on Cooper's move by Reuters, particularly that the bank is cooperating with the request:
[Bank of America spokesman Scott] Silvestri said Bank of America is paying bonuses to associates based on the $4 billion it made in profit during 2008. Bonuses have been reduced by more than 60 percent, on average, from 2007, he said.
Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis and other top executives are receiving no bonuses, and the next rung of executives are seeing bonus payouts cut by 80 percent, Silvestri said.]
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Chris Geidner is the award-winning senior political editor at D.C.'s Metro Weekly and has written for The Atlantic Online, The American Prospect, Advocate.com, Salon and other publications, as well as at his blog, Law Dork. In 2011, he received the Excellence in News Writing Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his coverage of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal. Prior to moving to D.C. in 2009, he served as an attorney on the senior staff at the Ohio Attorney General's Office and had earlier worked for a leading Columbus law firm. An extended biography can be found