In the wake of the financial crisis and bank bailout, bank directors have taken a lot of criticism. In some cases, banks have worked hard to rebuild their boards. We've seen many turnovers on the Citigroup board and the Bank of America board, for example.

But as the New York Times suggests, bank directors have a way of moving on to other banks, which means they still exert the same influence over the industry.

Gleacher & Company added two directors, one of whom was a director at AIG, the other was a director at Bear Stearns. Merrill Lynch's former CEO Stanley O'Neal has turned up as a director at Alcoa, but not at a financial services firm. Bank of America still has two former Merrill Lynch directors on its board.

In 2008, Stephen E. Frank was named an "outstanding director" for "the masterful chairmanship of Washington Mutual's audit committee during a period of intense change" by a media company, notes the Times. WaMu, of course, was seized in disgrace by JPMorgan Chase.

Corporate governance supporters have long advocated for better directors. But financial expertise is hard to come by these days. Many boards will be willing to tolerate some past lapses.

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