Bank of America CEO pay down 11 percent

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp(BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the second-largest U.S. bank, said on Wednesday that Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis was awarded about $20.4 million of compensation in 2007, an 11 percent decline from a year earlier, as mortgage-related write-downs caused profit to fall.

According to a proxy filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the 60-year-old Lewis was awarded a $1.5 million salary, $11.07 million of restricted stock, $3.38 million worth of stock options, $4.25 million of non-equity incentives and $212,211 of other compensation.

The latter included $127,643 related to personal use of corporate aircraft, and several other items. Lewis's reported compensation was about $22.85 million in the prior year.

Compensation is based on salary, bonus, the value of stock options and other awards granted during the year, and incentives and perks. The values of the restricted stock and stock options were taken as of the date they were granted.

Lewis also realized $14.17 million in 2007 from the vesting of 263,770 restricted shares, the filing shows.

Profit at Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America fell 29 percent last year to $14.98 billion, or $3.30 per share, hurt by write-downs for collateralized debt obligations and rising credit losses. Lewis called the market environment the "toughest" since he took over in April 2001.

The bank said its compensation and benefits committee concluded that 2007 performance "significantly missed" internal goals, especially in corporate and investment banking. Bank of America shares fell 23 percent last year, compared with a 25 percent drop in the Philadelphia KBW Bank Index .BKX.

Other banks are also reporting lower compensation for their chief executives. For example, Charlotte-based Wachovia Corp (WB.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the fourth-largest U.S. bank, said Chief Executive Ken Thompson's compensation fell 14 percent to $15.65 million.