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US pension plan wants Countrywide CEO out(Associated Press WorldStream Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) LOS ANGELES_A large pension plan that owns shares of struggling Countrywide Financial Corp. has asked the board of the United States' largest mortgage lender to oust Chairman and CEO Angelo Mozilo. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which counts 1.4 million members, made the request in a letter sent to the company's board late Thursday. The union-affiliated pension plan also asked the company to name two independent directors to the board and replace its executive compensation committee with people who have not played a role in the committee's actions, the Los Angeles Times reported. "Adding new independent directors is a way for stockholders to change an atmosphere that allows a dominant dual-role chairman and CEO to operate without appropriate checks and balances," Gerald W. McEntee, president of the union and chairman of its pension plan, wrote. A call to Countrywide on Saturday was not immediately returned. The letter is the latest criticism for the company and Mozilo in recent weeks from shareholders, many of whom are unhappy over a steep decline in Countrywide's stock price this year. Countrywide shares have lost more than 50 percent since January as the mortgage lender, the nation's largest by volume, has struggled through a severe housing slump and financial woes caused by the spike in home loan defaults and foreclosures. The company has been the target of shareholder lawsuits claiming it has misrepresented its financial condition, and U.S. securities regulators are examining Mozilo's own sales of the company's stock. The company disclosed Tuesday that it expects to book a pretax charge of between $125 million (87.5 million) and $150 million (104.9 million) related to its plan to cut thousands of jobs amid rising mortgage defaults and foreclosures. Countrywide announced in early September that it would cut as many as 12,000 jobs, or about 20 percent of its work force. Shares of Countrywide fell $1.28, or nearly 8 percent, to $15.23 on Friday. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |