BofA CEO Moynihan bank's highest-paid executive for first time

(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp Chief Executive and Chairman Brian Moynihan received a higher year-end compensation award for 2015 than any other executive at the bank, the first time this has happened since he took the top job in 2010.

In each of the previous years Thomas Montag, the bank's chief operating officer, received a larger pay package than Moynihan. New York-based Montag oversees Bank of America's investment bank, including its securities businesses.

Moynihan received cash and stock valued at $16 million in 2015, compared with $15.5 million for Montag, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday.

Moynihan's compensation increased 23 percent from 2014.

 

Still, his package paled in comparison with that of JPMorgan Chase & Co's Jamie Dimon. The CEO and chairman of the biggest U.S. bank by assets was awarded $27 million, a jump of 35 percent.

Moynihan's payout also fell short of those of Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Michael Corbat, who received about $16.5 million, and Wells Fargo & Co's John Stumpf, who was awarded $19.3 million.

Bank of America, the No. 2 U.S. bank by assets, earned $15.89 billion in 2015, up from $4.83 billion in 2014 when the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank incurred $10 billion in legal expenses.

Moynihan fought off a shareholder campaign last year to strip him of the chairmanship. Some shareholders were upset that the bank had unilaterally changed its bylaws in 2014 to allow Moynihan to hold both the CEO and chairman roles after investors had voted in 2009 to separate them.

Bank of America shares, which were up marginally at $13.40 in afternoon trading, fell about 6 percent in 2015.

(Reporting By Sudarshan Varadhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr)