Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan Will Vote for Barney Frank in Upcoming Election

In a recent television interview, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan stated he will vote for Barney Frank in the upcoming election he faces, saying he liked how he handled both banking and consumer challenges during the economic crisis. Frank is the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Moynihan has more of a history of working with Frank, as he lives in his district and interacted with Frank when Bank of America made the promise in 2004 to keep 17,900 jobs in the New England region when they acquired FleetBoston Financial Corp. at that time.

Former Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis had more of a strained relationship with Frank, and didn’t know him very well.

As far as how Frank handled the banking and consumer pressured during the economic crisis, I was less than impresses, as Frank seemed to flip flop from week to week on a variety of issues, especially in relationship to his dealings with the Federal Reserve, which were tough at first, but evidently members of his party and/or the central bank convinced him to back off, and he did, making him look weak as a result.

Frank has also seemed to not have control of the regulatory process, as almost everything is allowed to enter into the realm of possibility, making things as they stand highly unpredictable. For example, the inclusion of the so-called Volcker rule at a late stage of the regulatory process, which really hasn’t added much to the conversation, as it in general mirrors parts of the Glass-Steagall Act, which had already been offered as a potential part of the regulation ideas being presented to Frank.

Another key factor about Frank which needs to be better accessed, is his voting record for business is dismal when contrasted to his fellow congressman from Massachusetts, where the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says he only voted for positions staked out by them 25 percent of the time, while obviously voting against business 75 percent of the time. Not exactly a reason to be excited about him being voted back into office.

I would think this is more of damage control from Moynihan, who is covering his bases in case Frank is re-elected, while not attacking any opponents he may face in case things don’t turn out the way they way Frank would want going forward.