John Thain Resigns
John Thain, the former CEO of Merrill Lynch who assumed control of Bank of America's trading, investment banking and brokerage operations following BoA's acquisition of Merrill, has resigned effective immediately. The reason? The Journal reports that board members considered it "poor judgment" on Thain's part when he headed off to Vail for a little vacation at the same time Bank of America was announcing massive losses, and his decision to accelerate bonus payouts at Merrill so they could be collected before the end of the year didn't earn him any points. The last straw: Thain was still insisting on jetting off to Davos this week, "even though Bank of America had signaled that such a trip was not a good idea." He has plenty of time to stroll in the Alps now!