Wall Street’s Most Bearish Bank Analyst Thinks BofA Should Keep Lewis

Meredith Whitney, chief executive of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group, speaking to reporters today before appearing at a panel discussion in Toronto, said Bank of America (BAC) should retain Chief Executive Officer Ken Lewis even after his “mistake” in acquiring Merrill Lynch & Co. [via Bloomberg]

Whitney, who  correctly predicted a decline in U.S. bank shares last year, later at a panel discussion in Toronto sponsored by Sprott Asset Management Inc said stabilization in the banking sector would hold the key to a turnaround. Whitney, one of Wall Street’s most bearish bank analysts, has forecast another rough year for banks as they shed assets to raise capital.

“It’s not just the banks that have to stabilize their own lending it’s that they have to make up for the void of the shadow banking industry that has been shut down since the summer of 2007. We’ve got a ways to go,” she said. [via Reuters]

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