CtW Reiterates Opposition To B of A's Lewis Following Earnings Announcement

WASHINGTON, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from the CtW
Investment Group regarding Bank of America's reported first quarter earnings
released earlier today. Last month, the CtW Investment Group called for
shareholders to oppose Bank of America chairman and CEO Kenneth D. Lewis, Lead
Director O. Temple Sloan, and Governance Committee chair Thomas Ryan.

"For the past several weeks Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) has sought to turn its
first quarter 2009 earnings into a referendum on its acquisition of Merrill
Lynch and, by extension, the performance of its board in advance of its April
29th director election. Bank of America released those earnings this morning
and, judging by the more than 20% drop in its share price so far today,
shareholders are not impressed.

"Bank of America's first quarter earnings of $2.8 billion net of preferred
dividends were made possible by aggressive reserve practices and a series of
one-time gains. Even so, they do not even begin to offset the $22 billion in
pre-tax losses that Merrill incurred in the fourth quarter of 2008, after the
merger agreement was signed but before the deal closed.

"Had Bank of America kept its ratio of non-performing loans to the allowance
for loan losses constant from December 31, it would have had to boost its loan
loss provision by an additional $3.5 billion, more than enough to transform
first quarter earnings into a loss after deducting dividends on preferred
shares. Furthermore, the reported $2.8 billion first quarter earnings include
one-time gains, including a $1.9 billion pretax gain on the sale of shares in
China Construction Bank, $1.5 billion in security gains and $2.2 billion in
gains related to mark-to-market adjustments on certain structured notes issued
by Merrill.

"The reality is that no earnings report can compensate for the Bank of America
board's failures to both disclose Merrill's alarming deterioration prior to
the merger vote and prevent nearly $4 billion in pay-for-failure bonuses from
going out the door to Merrill executives at the expense of Bank of America
shareholders. Today's announcement only reinforces investor concerns that the
Merrill acquisition has dramatically increased Bank of America's risk profile
even as the quality of its own loan portfolio is deteriorating and the
economic outlook remains uncertain.

"The CtW Investment Group therefore reiterates its recommendation that Bank of
America shareholders vote against Chairman and CEO Ken Lewis and directors Tom
Ryan and Temple Sloan at the bank's April 29 shareholder meeting. Three
leading independent proxy voting services - RiskMetrics/ISS, Glass-Lewis and
Egan Jones - are also recommending that shareholders vote against directors
Lewis and Sloan among others."

SOURCE CtW Investment Group

Michael Garland of Change to Win, +1-212-471-1317