BofA CEO: Fed wants bank to show consistent earnings

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp  needs to show the U.S. Federal Reserve  it can produce consistent earnings as part of the annual process to gain permission to return more capital to shareholders, CEO Brian Moynihan said in an interview.

The second-largest U.S. bank is turning a profit in most of its main businesses, but it inherited costly legal problems when it acquired companies during the financial crisis, including subprime mortgage lender Countrywide Financial.

In the third quarter, Bank of America reported only a nominal profit after reaching a $2.4 billion settlement with investors to resolve claims it hid crucial information from shareholders when it bought investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co.

Moynihan declined to comment on whether the bank's capital plan, which is due to the Fed by January 7, will include any proposed share buybacks or increases in dividends. Moynihan suffered a major embarrassment in 2011 when the Fed rejected the bank's request to increase its quarterly dividend, which has been stuck at just one penny per share since the financial crisis.

The Fed has been evaluating capital plans as part of its supervision of bank holding companies and under provisions in the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. It is unclear whether the Fed would approve any request for an increased dividend or share buybacks next year. A Fed spokesperson declined to comment.

"The element that is sort of unique to us is the predictability of the earnings stream," Moynihan said in an interview in his Charlotte, North Carolina, office. "We are working to get through that."

Other banks have demonstrated their ability to earn money more consistently. JPMorgan Chase & Co's quarterly profit, for example, hasn't fallen below $3.7 billion in the past year, even as it has taken losses on disastrous credit derivative trades.

Investors and analysts are hopeful that Bank of America's legal problems will die down soon. Its stock price has more than doubled this year, partly on expectations that the bank will increase its dividend and buy back more stock after the Federal Reserve reviews its capital plans this spring.

Analysts at Atlantic Equities on Tuesday said they expect Bank of America to buy back $4 billion of its own shares in 2013 and $10 billion in 2014, which would be its first buybacks since 2007.

The bank has "made a lot of progress" on legal issues, Moynihan said, but he acknowledged that the company is still working through lawsuits and investor demands to buy back soured mortgages the bank sold off during the housing boom.

In recent weeks, the bank's dispute with insurer MBIA Inc over mortgage-related claims has heated up, with Bank of America filing a new lawsuit last week against the insurer. The legal tussle with MBIA has dragged on, even as Bank of America has worked out settlements with other insurers of mortgage-backed securities issued by Countrywide.

Moynihan said the bank will settle the MBIA dispute if it can reach an agreement that is reasonable for shareholders but otherwise it is ready to litigate the matter.

The bank's shares closed Tuesday at $11.35, up 3.2 percent for the day. The shares are the best performer in the Dow Jones industrial average this year, after falling the most in 2011.

HEALING

In an effort to improve earnings, Moynihan is aiming to cut costs by $8 billion annually by mid-2015 through a program called Project New BAC, including 30,000 layoffs that have been under way since September 2011. Bank of America had noninterest expenses of $76.5 billion in 2011.

In addition, Bank of America expects to eventually reduce costs in its unit that serves delinquent mortgage customers to about $500 million per quarter from about $3.4 billion in the third quarter. If delinquent mortgages continue to fall, that saving should be achieved in 2015, if not sooner, Moynihan said.

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Newtown backlash prompts Bushmaster rifle maker sale

(Reuters) - The company whose AR-15 type Bushmaster rifle was used in the Newtown school massacre in Connecticut will be immediately put up for sale, its private equity owner Cerberus Capital Management LP said on Tuesday in response to investor concerns.

The secretive private equity firm risked the ire of investors, which include some of the largest U.S. public pension funds, after its investment in Freedom Group Inc, owner of Bushmaster Firearms International that makes the rifle, came under public scrutiny.

The pressure on Cerberus to sell the firearms maker comes as it seeks up to $3.5 billion from investors for its latest buyout fund.

Late on Monday, California Treasurer Bill Lockyer asked CalPERS and CalSTRS, the state's public pension funds and the largest in the United States, to account for their investments in gun manufacturers, and proposed that they sell their interest in any company that makes guns that are illegal under California's assault weapons ban.

California's ban includes the Bushmaster rifle.

"The Treasurer's view is that neither fund should be invested in any company that makes guns that are illegal in this state, especially ones that were used to kill 20 innocent children and six innocent adults," Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for Lockyer said.

CalSTRS, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, said on Monday it was reviewing its investment with Cerberus in the wake of Friday's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

"It's an unusual move by Cerberus but it was a terrible event, so they are responding to some of their investors who are teachers' funds. I'm sure they will be selling it at a low price because now would not be a good time to sell the business," said Steven Kaplan, a University of Chicago finance professor.

Cerberus filed for an initial public offering of Freedom Group in October 2009 but withdrew the registration in April 2011, without offering a reason.

In addition to Cerberus, some gun retailers also took steps.

Dick's Sporting Goods pulled all guns from its store closest to the site of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, and suspended the sale of certain kinds of semi-automatic rifles from its chains nationwide.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc took down an informational website about semi-automatic Bushmaster rifles.

Cabela's Inc continued to advertise AR-15 type Bushmaster rifles on its website, though it said the weapons were not available for sale online or at its Connecticut store location.

FUNDRAISING

Cerberus Institutional Partners V, Cerberus' latest buyout fund, was seeking between $3 billion and $3.5 billion from investors, CalPERS, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, that has committed $400 million to the fund, said in a report earlier this year.

Cerberus is also raising a real estate fund, Cerberus Institutional Real Estate Partners III, according to a filing last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Founded in 1992 by Stephen Feinberg and William Richter, New York-based Cerberus has more than $20 billion under management and shares its name with a mythical three-headed dog which in Greek mythology guards the entrance to the underworld.

Feinberg's father, Martin Feinberg, is a resident of Newtown, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing an interview with him. Public records show a Martin Feinberg residing in a retirement facility in Newtown.

Cerberus said on Tuesday it would hire a financial adviser to sell its interests in Freedom Group and return the proceeds to investors.

The private equity firm expressed shock and grief at the killings in Newtown but added that Freedom Group was not responsible.

"We do not believe that Freedom Group or any single company or individual can prevent senseless violence or the illegal use or procurement of firearms and ammunition," it said.

Cerberus bought firearms maker Bushmaster in 2006 and later merged it with other gun companies to create Freedom Group, which reported net sales of $677 million for the nine months ended September, up from $565 million a year earlier.

Besides Cerberus, a few other private equity firms also have stakes in firearms companies. Sciens Capital Management, for example, jointly owns small arms maker Colt Defense.

In an opinion piece published on Monday in Slate magazine, prior to the announcement by Cerberus, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer said pressure should be stepped up on the owners of gun companies, like Cerberus, to change the way they operate.

"It is time to determine pension fund by pension fund who has invested in Cerberus and bring pressure on those investors either to get out of Cerberus or have Cerberus change the way it runs the gun industry," Spitzer wrote. (http://link.reuters.com/vuf74t)

GUN CONTROL DEBATE

Cerberus said the Newtown tragedy was a "watershed event" that has raised the national debate on gun control "to an unprecedented level."

However, it added the firm was responsible for only investment decisions it makes on behalf of its clients and does not play the role of "statesmen or policy makers."

"It is not our role to take positions, or attempt to shape or influence the gun control policy debate. That is the job of our federal and state legislators," it said.

U.S. lawmakers have not approved a major new federal gun law since 1994, and a ban on certain semi-automatic rifles known as assault weapons expired in 2004.

The Newtown massacre has led President Barack Obama and some congressional leaders to reconsider what has been a largely hands-off approach to gun control in recent years.

The percentage of Americans favoring tough gun regulations rose significantly after the killings at the Connecticut school, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Monday.

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Defense bill bans funding for joint missile program

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives and Senate negotiators on Tuesday defied the White House and passed a defense budget bill that bans funding for the final year of a joint ground-based missile defense program with Italy and Germany.

The lawmakers prohibited a final U.S. payment of $400.9 million for development of the Medium Extended Air and Missile Defense System (MEADS), saying Washington has no plans to produce the system being built by Lockheed Martin Corp and its partners in Italy and Germany.

Industry executives and foreign officials say the government may face termination fees nearly equal to the money required to finish the system, which is financed by the United States, Italy and Germany.

It has been in development for more than a decade at a combined cost of more than $4 billion.

MEADS International, the Lockheed-led consortium developing the missile defense system, said the program had achieved several milestones in recent weeks.

It said a recent test demonstrated its 360-degree capability to detect, track and destroy an "air-breathing" target, a term used to describe airplanes and cruise missiles, versus ballistic missiles.

The White House last month reiterated its concerns about the bill, warning that a ban on MEADS funding could harm Washington's broader relationship with its allies, jeopardizing the kind of multinational projects favored by the Obama administration as budget pressures mount.

Failure to fund the final part of MEADS development could also make it impossible to take advantage of technologies developed by the program, the White House warned.

VETO THREAT

Other provisions of the 2013 defense authorization bill have prompted a veto threat by the White House.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and officials from Italy and Germany raised concerns this year about the ban on funding for MEADS, which was intended to replace the U.S. Army's aging Patriot air and missile defense system.

The Pentagon announced last year that it would stop funding the program after fiscal 2013, calling it unaffordable in the current budget climate.

That prompted some lawmakers like Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona to call for an immediate halt in spending on the program.

Italy's defense minister told McCain in a letter dated December 7 that MEADS was ideally suited to help address "the current and future air, tactical and ballistic missile threats that Italy, Europe and NATO will have to face for many years to come."

Failure by the United States to fulfill its funding commitment for 2013 would be "a unilateral withdrawal of our transatlantic agreement and (memorandum of understanding) and the U.S. would be held financially liable," he wrote.

Michael Amato, a spokesman for the Democrats who serve on the House Armed Services Committee, said U.S. participation in the program was based on "availability of appropriated funds."

He said lawmakers agreed to fund the program in fiscal 2012 on the condition that the Pentagon wrap up funding for the program, and propose a lower-cost solution.

"This year, the House and Senate were clear that they would prohibit the funds for this program as there are no plans for production," he said.

The White House had no additional comment, referring to its previous statement of administration policy.

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Pfizer to cut 600 jobs as Lipitor sales decline: report

(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc  plans to cut about 20 percent of its sales force for primary-care drugs, Bloomberg News reported, as the pharmaceutical company copes with the loss of a patent for top-selling cholesterol drug Lipitor.

The staff cuts will amount to about 600 sales people out of 3,000, and will begin this month, Bloomberg said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

In November 2011, Pfizer lost its patent in the United States for Lipitor, whose sales topped $10 billion a year. The company is working to lower costs as cheaper generic drugs have entered the market, taking away market share and revenue.

Pfizer spokesman MacKay Jimeson would not comment on the job cut numbers cited by Bloomberg, but said the company is "making changes in some segments of our field force to better match the future needs of the business."

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Instagram tests new limits in user privacy

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Instagram, which spurred suspicions this week that it would sell user photos after revising its terms of service, has sparked renewed debate about how much control over personal data users must give up to live and participate in a world steeped in social media.

In forcefully establishing a new set of usage terms, Instagram, the massively popular photo-sharing service owned by Facebook Inc, has claimed some rights that have been practically unheard of among its prominent social media peers, legal experts and consumer advocates say.

Users who decline to accept Instagram's new privacy policy have one month to delete their accounts, or they will be bound by the new terms. Another clause appears to waive the rights of minors on the service. And in the wake of a class-action settlement involving Facebook and privacy issues, Instagram has added terms to shield itself from similar litigation.

All told, the revised terms reflect a new, draconian grip over user rights, experts say.

"This is all uncharted territory," said Jay Edelson, a partner at the Chicago law firm Edelson McGuire. "If Instagram is to encourage as many lawsuits as possible and as much backlash as possible then they succeeded."

Instagram's new policies, which go into effect January 16, lay the groundwork for the company to begin generating advertising revenue by giving marketers the right to display profile pictures and other personal information such as who users follow in advertisements.

The new terms, which allow an advertiser to pay Instagram "to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata)" without compensation, triggered an outburst of complaints on the Web on Tuesday from users upset that Instagram would make money from their uploaded content.

The uproar prompted a lengthy blog post from the company to "clarify" the changes, with CEO Kevin Systrom saying the company had no current plans to incorporate photos taken by users into ads.

Instagram declined comment beyond its blog post, which failed to appease critics including National Geographic, which suspended new posts to Instagram. "We are very concerned with the direction of the proposed new terms of service and if they remain as presented we may close our account," said National Geographic, an early Instagram adopter.

PUSHING BOUNDARIES

Consumer advocates said Facebook was using Instagram's aggressive new terms to push the boundaries of how social media sites can make money while its own hands were tied by recent agreements with regulators and class action plaintiffs.

Under the terms of a 2011 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, Facebook is required to get user consent before personal information is shared beyond their privacy settings. A preliminary class action lawsuit settlement with Facebook allows users to opt-out of being included in the "sponsored stories" ads that use their personal information.

Under Instagram's new terms, users who want to opt-out must simply quit using the service.

"Instagram has given people a pretty stark choice: Take it or leave, and if you leave it you've got to leave the service," said Kurt Opsahl, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a Internet user right's group.

What's more, he said, if a user initially agrees to the new terms but then has a change of mind, their information could still be used for commercial purposes.

In a post on its official blog on Tuesday, Instagram did not address another controversial provision that states that if a child under the age of 18 uses the service, then it is implied that his or her parent has tacitly agreed to Instagram's terms.

"The notion is that minors can't be bound to a contract. And that also means they can't be bound to a provision that says they agree to waive the rights," said the EFF's Opsahl.

BLOCKING CLASS ACTION SUITS

While Facebook continues to be bogged in its own class action suit, Instagram took preventive steps to avoid a similar legal morass.

Its new terms of service require users with a legal complaint to enter arbitration, rather than take the company to court. It prohibits users from joining a class action lawsuit unless they mail a written "opt-out" statement to Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park within 30 days of joining Instagram.

That provision is not included in terms of service for other leading social media companies like Twitter, Google, YouTube or even Facebook itself, and it immunizes Instagram from many forms of legal liability, said Michael Rustad, a professor at Suffolk University Law School.

Rustad, who has studied the terms of services for 157 social media services, said just 10 contained provisions prohibiting class action lawsuits.

The clause effectively cripples users who want to legally challenge the company because lawyers will not likely represent an individual plaintiff, Rustad argued.

"No lawyers will take these cases," Rustad said. "In consumer arbitration cases, everything is stacked against the consumer. It's a pretense, it's a legal fiction, that there are remedies."

Instagram, which has 100 million users, allows consumers to tweak the photos they take on their smartphones and share the images with friends. Facebook acquired Instagram in September for $715 million.

Instagram's take-it-or-leave-it policy pushes the envelope for how social networking companies treat user privacy issues, said Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

"I think Facebook is probably using Instagram to see how far it can press this advertising model," said Rotenberg. "If they can keep a lot of users, then all those users have agreed to have their images as part of advertising."

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IOC board to examine Armstrong and Athens doping cases, illegal ticket sales

LAUSANNE, Switzerland - Four months after the highs of the London Olympics, the IOC is turning to less uplifting matters: drug-tainted medals from past games, ethics violations in ticket sales and suspension of national Olympic bodies. The fate of Lance Armstrong's bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Games and doping cases involving five medallists from the 2004 Athens Olympics are high on the agenda for the IOC's two-day executive board meeting starting Tuesday in Lausanne. Also on the table are proposed sanctions against Olympic officials and ticket agents accused of unauthorized sale of London tickets and the proposed suspension of the Indian Olympic Association for political interference. The IOC board also will receive reports on preparations for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. With concerns mounting about the state of progress in Rio, the IOC will be looking for assurances that the first Olympics in South America are on track. Doping issues will be at the forefront of the meetings, which have been moved to a Lausanne hotel because the International Olympic Committee headquarters are still being repaired after flood damage caused by a burst water main. Five doping tests from 2004 came back positive earlier this year when the IOC reanalyzed about 100 Athens samples to catch any drug cheats who had avoided detection. The IOC held disciplinary hearings for the five East European athletes — all medallists — over the weekend, and will now consider disqualifying them and removing the medals. The group includes shot put gold medallist Yuriy Bilonog of Ukraine and three bronze winners — women's shot putter Svetlana Krivelyova of Russia, discus thrower Irina Yatchenko of Belarus and weightlifter Oleg Perepechenov of Russia. Their names were first reported last week by German public broadcaster ARD. The identities were confirmed to The Associated Press by two Olympic officials with knowledge of the cases. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the cases remain confidential while the disciplinary process is ongoing. The fifth athlete is Ivan Tskikhan of Belarus, who won silver in the hammer throw in Athens. He was publicly identified by the Belarus Olympic Committee and sent home from the London Games. Whether or when the IOC would reallocate the medals is uncertain. If Bilonog's victory in the shot put is erased, Adam Nelson of the United States could move up to gold. In 2004, the Athens Games produced a record 26 doping cases and six medallists — including two gold winners — were caught. Since Athens, the IOC has been storing doping samples from each Olympics for eight years to allow for retesting when new detection methods become available. The Athens retests have caused a rift between the IOC and World Anti-Doping Agency. WADA leaders publicly criticized the IOC for not retesting more of the 3,000-plus samples. The IOC said it assessed the quality, quantity and chain-of-custody of the samples, as well as the considerable cost and logistics of retesting. The IOC, meanwhile, wants to get back the bronze medal that Armstrong won in the road time trial in Sydney, following the damning U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's report that led to him being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles from 1999-2005. The board could decide to strip the medal this week or wait another few weeks until cycling's governing body has officially notified Armstrong of the loss of all his results since August 1998. IOC lawyers are studying whether the eight-year statute of limitations applies. "The board is following a zero-tolerance policy on doping," IOC vice-president Thomas Bach, who heads the body's doping investigations, told The Associated Press. The IOC has no plans to reallocate Armstrong's medal, just as the UCI decided not to declare winners for the Tour titles revoked from the American. Spanish rider Abraham Olano Manzano, who finished fourth in Sydney, would not be upgraded and the bronze medal placing would be left vacant in the Olympic records. The IOC is also investigating Levi Leipheimer, a former Armstrong teammate who won the time-trial bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games. The American confessed to doping as part of his testimony against Armstrong in the USADA case. Also now in doubt is the silver medal in the women's discus from the London Olympics. Darya Pishchalnikova's sample from an out-of-competition test in May was negative at the time, but came back positive for a steroid when it was retested last month with a new method. The former Olympic and world champion's case now lies with the IAAF and may not reach the IOC for some time. On another matter, the IOC board will act on recommendations from the ethics commission for sanctions in connection with irregularities in the sale of Olympic tickets. The IOC opened a probe in June after Britain's Sunday Times reported that national Olympic committee officials and ticket agents in several countries were caught offering tickets on the black market for up to 10 times their face value. The paper turned its evidence over to the IOC, which has been studying it for several months. At issue are ticket allocations given by local organizers to the 200-plus national Olympic committees to sell in their home countries. The committees appoint a local organization to sell the tickets. IOC rules prohibit national committees from selling tickets abroad, inflating ticket prices or selling tickets to unauthorized resellers. The highest-profile official implicated in the newspaper's undercover investigation was Sypros Capralos, head of the Greek Olympic Committee. He has denied any wrongdoing. The IOC will rule on a proposal to suspend India because of government interference in the national Olympic body's elections, scheduled for Wednesday. The IOC has told the Indians they must adhere to their own constitution and Olympic Charter and not follow the government sports code.

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LeBron James wins Sports Illustrated annual award

(Reuters) - LeBron James of the Miami Heat was named as Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year for 2012, the U.S. magazine announced on Monday. In an outstanding year, the 27-year-old James won his first NBA championship, his third league Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, was named MVP of the NBA finals and a won gold medal with the United States at the London Olympics. He became just the sixth basketballer to win the award, which began in 1954. The most recent was his team-mate Dwyane Wade in 2006. Two years ago, James became a hate figure for many American sports fans after he announced his decision to sign for Miami live on television after his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers had expired. He was booed at courts across the NBA and received intense criticism for his performance as Miami lost the 2011 NBA finals to the Dallas Mavericks. "Did I think an award like this was possible two years ago? ‘No, I did not," James said in an interview with the magazine. "I thought I would be helping a lot of kids and raise $3 million by going on TV and saying, ‘Hey, I want to play for the Miami Heat.' But it affected far more people than I imagined. "I know it wasn't on the level of an injury or an addiction, but it was something I had to recover from. I had to become a better person, a better player, a better father, a better friend, a better mentor and a better leader. I've changed, and I think people have started to understand who I really am." Previous winners of the award include swimmer Michael Phelps (2008), cyclist Lance Armstrong (2002) and golfer Tiger Woods (2000) while the first award was given to British athlete Roger Bannister in 1954 after he became the first person to run a mile in under four minutes.

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Riders urged to cooperate to lift doping taint

LONDON (Reuters) - A lobby group campaigning to clean up cycling has invited riders to back a plan it says could remove doping suspicions undermining the sport after the Lance Armstrong doping scandal. "The assistance we are seeking from the riders will be to put in place a system that will guarantee that the winner of the major tours has not blood doped," said doctor Michael Ashenden, a leading anti-doping campaigner. "It's a short-term intensive approach that will restore public confidence in the riders and the race outcome," Ashenden, an expert on combating blood doping, told a news conference organized by "Change Cycling Now". Ashenden gave no further details of his proposal but said he had briefed Gianni Bugno, president of the riders association, with a view to its swift implementation for next season. Cycling has been in crisis since Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after the United States Anti-Doping Agency accused him of being at the center of an organized doping conspiracy. "Change Cycling Now" has called for Pat McQuaid to quit as head of the UCI, the sport's governing body, accusing him of failing to root out doping. American Greg LeMond, who won the Tour in 1986, 89 and 90, said he was prepared to serve as an interim head of the UCI. "I would do whatever I can to help change the sport," LeMond told the news conference. "I would love to be part of the process to change (the sport) and if that means an interim presidency, I would be willing to do that." SUSPICIONS LINGER Bradley Wiggins, who rides for Team Sky, became the first Briton to win the Tour de France in 2012. Team Sky has a zero tolerance policy towards staff members with a doping history and Wiggins angrily dismissed doping-related questions en route to his Tour triumph in the summer. Ashenden said he was not accusing Wiggins of any wrongdoing but underlining the credibility issue the sport faces. "That would be a remarkable day, when a rider can stand up and say "I won and you know that I didn't dope", blood dope, I need to be specific there," he said. "The unfortunate reality is that everything that a rider can say today, Lance Armstrong already said. The reality is, no matter what a rider says, there is going to be doubt," he added. "Change Cycling Now", comprising former riders, journalists and anti-doping campaigners, has been put together by Jaimie Fuller, an Australian who is chairman of the SKINS sportswear company, a cycling sponsor. Fuller said he had approached more than 10 current cyclists about the campaign but they were afraid to speak out. "The vast majority were intimidated about what could happen to them if they stuck their head above the parapet and were critical of the UCI," he said. LeMond, who had long been critical of Armstrong, said he had also been the victim of intimidation. "I personally dealt with the threats, I dealt with the amount of money that he had to destroy people," he said. Dutch Rabobank pulled out of sponsoring a professional cycling team in the wake of the Armstrong scandal and there are fears other companies could quit. "He's done a lot of damage to cycling. It was a false bull market for cycling," LeMond said of Armstrong.

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LeMond says UCI's McQuaid must stand down amid Armstrong probe, offers to serve as president

LONDON - A group of the UCI's fiercest critics called for the president to step aside Monday, and asked three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond to put himself forward to run cycling in the interim. LeMond said after Change Cycling Now's inaugural meeting that International Cycling Union President Pat McQuaid can't remain in his job while a panel examines possible links between the organization and the doping case involving Lance Armstrong. "I would love to be part of the process of change and if that means as interim president then I would be willing to do that," LeMond said. "I said if we can't find anyone more qualified," the 51-year-old American added. "I will do whatever I can to help change the sport. I am definitely not pushing myself ... cycling needs radical change, it needs new leadership." The sport is reeling from its most damaging scandal in which Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour titles among other victories and banned for life after a damning report by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Pre-empting the Change Cycling Now meeting in London, the UCI announced Friday that a three-man panel will scrutinize McQuaid and his predecessor Hein Verbruggen over their relations with Armstrong. McQuaid was elected president not long after Armstrong first retired in 2005, and Verbruggen is now honorary president of the UCI. The governing body denies claims made by former Armstrong teammates to USADA that it covered up suspicious samples from Armstrong in exchange for payments totalling $125,000, or that the American rider enjoyed special protection. But LeMond questioned how McQuaid and Verbruggen could remain in their roles until the panel, headed by a retired British judge, files its report in June. "During this investigation you can't have the fox guarding the henhouse, and that means they need to willingly step down — now," LeMond said. "Will they? Most likely not because they are protecting their own position. It will take pressure." LeMond said cycling must be run by someone who is "beyond reproach." "We need to find a great leader who can take the sport forward and repair the damage that has been done," he said. Change Cycling Now is funded by sportswear company Skins, which is suing the UCI for $2 million after claiming its brand has been damaged by backing the sport as the Armstrong scandal unfolded. The International Olympic Committee executive board is this week discussing whether to strip Armstrong of his bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Games. "I still would love to see Armstrong come forward and reveal how, and I might even shake his hand if he would do this," LeMond said. "Because I think what he could offer is insight into really what was happening ... things don't happen by themselves. It was a huge effort by multiple people and he alone can reveal that. "It would be one redeeming thing he could do for cycling, because he has done a lot of damage for cycling." While Change Cycling Now is trying to pitch itself as the organization to lead the overhaul of cycling, no current riders attended its two-day meeting in London. Skins chairman Jaimie Fuller, who is fronting the group, claimed more than 10 cyclists rebuffed his invitation to attend. "There were a couple who it was geographically difficult for, but the vast majority were intimidated about what could happen to them if they stuck their heads above the parapet and were critical of the UCI," Fuller said. Speaking on the same media conference panel as Fuller, investigative journalist Paul Kimmage claimed cyclists are "terrified of what the repercussions might be — that's not the sign of a healthy organization." But Australian anti-doping scientist Michael Ashenden, who helped the UCI develop its anti-doping biological passport project, believes the organization has a future. "I don't believe there is a need to dissolve the UCI," said Ashenden, alongside Fuller.

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LeMond wants to run UCI after Armstrong scandal

LONDON (AP) -- Greg LeMond says the President of the International Cycling Union can't remain in his job while a panel examines possible links between the organization and the doping case involving Lance Armstrong. The three-time Tour de France winner said after Change Cycling Now's first meeting that he would be willing to run cycling in the interim. ''I would love to be part of the process of change and if that means as interim president then I would be willing to do that,'' LeMond said. ''I said if we can't find anyone more qualified, I will do whatever I can to help change the sport. I am definitely not pushing myself ... cycling needs radical change, it needs new leadership.'' Before the Change Cycling Now meeting in London, the UCI announced Friday that a three-man panel will scrutinize President Pat McQuaid and his predecessor Hein Verbruggen over their relations with Armstrong. The sport is reeling from its most damaging scandal in which Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour titles, among other victories, and banned for life after a damning report by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. McQuaid was elected president not long after Armstrong first retired in 2005, and Verbruggen is now honorary president of the UCI. The governing body denied claims made by former Armstrong teammates to USADA that it covered up suspicious samples from Armstrong in exchange for payments totaling $125,000, or that the American rider enjoyed special protection. But LeMond questioned how McQuaid and Verbruggen could remain in their roles until the panel, headed by a retired British judge, files its report in June. ''During this investigation you can't have the fox guarding the henhouse, and that means they need to willingly step down - now,'' LeMond said. ''Will they? Most likely not because they are protecting their own position. It will take pressure.'' LeMond said cycling must be run by someone who is ''beyond reproach.'' ''We need to find a great leader who can take the sport forward and repair the damage that has been done,'' he said. Change Cycling Now is funded by sportswear company Skins, which is suing the UCI for $2 million after claiming its brand has been damaged by backing the sport as the Armstrong scandal unfolded. The International Olympic Committee executive board is this week discussing whether to strip Armstrong of his bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Games. ''I still would love to see Armstrong come forward and reveal how, and I might even shake his hand if he would do this,'' LeMond said. ''Because I think what he could offer is insight into really what was happening ... things don't happen by themselves. It was a huge effort by multiple people and he alone can reveal that. ''It would be one redeeming thing he could do for cycling, because he has done a lot of damage for cycling.'' While Change Cycling Now is trying to pitch itself as the organization to lead the overhaul of cycling, no current riders attended its two-day meeting in London. Skins chairman Jaimie Fuller, who is fronting the group, claimed more than 10 cyclists rebuffed his invitation to attend. ''There were a couple who it was geographically difficult for, but the vast majority were intimidated about what could happen to them if they stuck their heads above the parapet and were critical of the UCI,'' Fuller said. Speaking on the same media conference panel as Fuller, investigative journalist Paul Kimmage claimed cyclists are ''terrified of what the repercussions might be - that's not the sign of a healthy organization.'' But Australian anti-doping scientist Michael Ashenden, who helped the UCI develop its anti-doping biological passport project, believes the organization has a future. ''I don't believe there is a need to dissolve the UCI,'' Ashenden said.

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