Mozilo Asked Testify to Congress

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Countrywide Financial Corp.’s Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo and two former chiefs of leading investment banks have been asked to testify before a congressional committee next month on their pay and severance packages.


A House panel invited former Citigroup Chief Executive Charles Prince and former Merrill Lynch Chief Executive Stanley O’Neal to appear with Mozilo at a Feb. 7 hearing.


Mozilo has been one of the nation’s highest-paid chief executives and stands to pocket $115 million in severance and other payments related to the buyout of the Calabasas-based firm by Bank of America.


In a letter sent Monday afternoon to the executives, Henry Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, asked Mozilo to be prepared to justify how his compensation was in the best interest of shareholders.


Prince, who quit Citigroup last year due to billions of dollars in losses related to subprime mortgage investments, and O’Neal, who was ousted from Merrill under similar circumstances, are also expected to testify why they reaped millions upon their departures.


Shares in Countrywide sank 2.8 percent to $5.92 in early trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

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