Ken Lewis Burns in Effigy

By Lisa Valentine

$2.24 billion in quarterly losses is pretty significant, even if you are the second largest bank in the U.S. But did Bank of America’s CEO Ken Lewis really deserve no salary and no bonus?

Can the Special Master of Executive Compensation (an absolutely ludicrous title reminiscent of a Monty Python skit) Kenneth Feinberg really do that?

In a world of government intervention, we guess he can. He is, after all, the special master.

Ok, Ken Lewis may have made a few dubious decisions, including (allegedly) neglecting to disclose losses at Merrill Lynch to shareholders, but to his defense, Lewis was under a heck of a lot of stress. Did he do the best job a CEO could have done at the time? Who knows. Yes, he’s under investigation by the SEC, Congress, and the attorney generals of three states.  While it’s unclear what those investigations will uncover, Lewis has already been tried and convicted by Feinberg.

Something is just not right. I hardly think of Ken Lewis, a 40 year veteran of the bank, as someone with a total disregard for shareholders (as well as the U.S. taxpayers that have bailed out the bank). Isn’t no pay a bit harsh? (Lewis’ base salary is $1.5 million, not unheard of for a CEO of a large, once-profitable organization; Obama receives a base salary of $400,000.) When Obama vowed to limit executive compensation, did he really mean to zero?

Executive compensation continues to be a scapegoat issue for the financial crisis because it’s so easy for the masses to understand. Executive compensation has gotten out of hand, and companies that have accepted government funds should not be allowed to waste taxpayer money, but this seems like an extreme reaction that sets a very dangerous precedent.

Who in their right mind is going to want to work in financial services? I can hear Willie Nelson singing now, “Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be financial services industry CEOs.”