Bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc. is aiming to block investment strategist Charles Lemonides from assuming a role on the company's board of directors when it exits chapter 11 bankruptcy, accusing him of "offensive" conduct, Reuters reported yesterday. Lemonides, chief investment officer for asset manager ValueWorks LLC, is a member of Ambac's creditors’ committee, which nominated him to serve as a director of Ambac after it exits bankruptcy under the ownership of its creditors. He is one of four nominees scheduled to join the board. But Ambac is asking Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman to bar Lemonides from the role and direct the creditors’ committee to appoint someone else. Ambac said in a court filing on Monday that Lemonides pressured its chief financial officer, David Trick, to hire an unqualified candidate as Ambac's chief investment officer and tried to exclude other board nominees from overseeing the search process.
