CtW says directors of Bank of America, Washington Mutual must answer for mortgage market disaster

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Feb. 12 - CtW Investment Group wants three directors of Bank of America and three directors of Washington Mutual, Inc. to explain what they did to protect shareholders from "excessive mortgage-related risk over the past two years," it was announced on Tuesday.

Without a "compelling response," CtW said it will urge shareholders to vote against the directors at the banks' 2008 annual meetings in April, a CtW news release stated.

Specifically, CtW named Bank of America directors Jackie M. Ward, Frank P. Bramble Sr. and Robert L. Tillman, all members of the board's asset quality committee.

CtW also named Washington Mutual directors Mary Pugh, Stephen E. Frank and William G. Reed Jr., all members of the company's finance committee.

"The meltdown of the U.S. mortgage market is among the worst financial disasters of the past 50 years," CtW executive director Bill Patterson stated in the release.

"At the epicenter of this crisis are Bank of America, Washington Mutual and four other U.S. banks whose failure to manage mortgage-related risk not only destroyed almost $300 billion in combined shareholder value, but also helped destabilize the global capital markets and precipitate a credit crunch that now threatens to throw the U.S. economy into recession," Patterson added.

Naming the six directors completes CtW's "Subprime Director" Focus List for the 2008 proxy season, the company said.

CtW previously announced that it will work to hold accountable culpable directors at Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Wachovia.

All six Focus List banks are expected to hold annual meetings in April.

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