CNBC's Maria Bartiromo, reading from a parting memo that John Thain sent to his troops last night, said that he wanted to address inaccuracies that have been swirling around in the press:
Thain defended selling Merrill to B of A as the right thing to do. He also said that the big losses that Merrill incurred in December came from legacy positions that were on the books before he joined the firm, and he says that they were completely transparent to Bank of America.
He also said, regarding the bonuses, some of which were accelerated into 2007 and which are now the subject of controversy, that the pool was 41% less than 2007 and that they were approved by the Bank of America board of directors.
In addition, in a move that we consider way too little too late, he's going to be repaying the firm for the $1.2 million in costs that he incurred in renovating his office, admitting that they weren't the wisest decisions. He apparently said in the memo "The expenses were incurrred over a year ago, in a very different
environment, nonetheless they were a mistake in light of the world we
live in".
Bartiromo will interview Thain later today on their Closing Bell show.
Tags: Bank of America, John Thain, Ken Lewis, Merrill Lynch
