The moves by Bank of America (BAC Bank of America news) over the past year and a half to remake its much maligned board (board members news) has been big news. The coming of former regulators such as Donald Powell, Susan Bies and others was hailed as a step in the right direction. But the damage to the company rendered to the board's reputation, whether fair or not, has already been done. And one danger is that the criticism being leveled now really relates to the pre-reform board. But you can understand why the pain runs deep.

A commentator at Compliance Week has reviewed the documents released in the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch deal controversy. He ended up depressed by "the utter lack of concern from senior executives and board directors about the best interests of Bank of America shareholders (shareholder news). If you read through the court filings, the Bank of America executives come across as manipulating the letter of the law to complete the merger by any means necessary; the boards seemed disengaged, struggling to keep pace with events, and more interested in handicapping who might end up in what role at the surviving entity."  

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