3 more Bank of America board members resign

NEW YORK — Three more directors resigned from Bank of America Corp.’s board this week, the Charlotte, N.C., bank said in a regulatory filing.

John T. Collins, William Barnet III and Gary L. Countryman were the latest to depart the board, following four others out the door since shareholders replaced the bank’s chairman in April.

A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said Collins resigned as of Wednesday, while Barnet and Countryman left Friday.

The filing said “each director’s decision to resign was not as a result of any disagreement with the corporation or its management.” A spokesman said the bank would have no other comment.

Collins and Barnet did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Countryman could not immediately be reached.

The earlier board departures, which included the panel’s lead outside director, were seen as an effort to overhaul leadership to appease both federal regulators and angry shareholders. The board has been under intense scrutiny in recent months, as shareholders criticized its handling of its takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co.

It was also speculated that federal officials pressured the bank to revamp its board to bring in directors with more banking experience.

Barnet, 66, is chairman and CEO of The Barnet Co., a Spartanburg, S.C. real estate and investments firm. Collins, 62, is CEO of a private equity investments and management firm, The Collins Group, in Boston. Countryman, 69, is chairman emeritus and a director of Boston-based insurance company Liberty Mutual Group. All three served on the board since 2004.

Bank of America, which received $45 billion in federal rescue aid, $20 billion of which was tied to the acquisition of Merrill Lynch, reported a second-quarter profit of $2.4 billion earlier this month.

The bank came under renewed criticism in recent days for paying out $3.3 billion in bonuses for 2008, with 172 employees receiving at least $1 million and the top four recipients receiving a combined $64 million. Merrill Lynch paid out $3.6 billion, including a combined $121 million to four top employees.

The company was one of nine big banks that received bailout money and then paid big bonuses that were identified in a report by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

In response to the report, the House of Representatives on Friday voted to prohibit pay and bonus packages that encourage bankers and traders to take risks so big they could bring down the entire U.S. economy.

Bank of America shares closed Friday up 82 cents, or 5.9 percent, at $14.79. The stock slipped 7 cents in after-hours trading.