Ken Lewis, the chief executive of Bank of America, will receive no pay or bonus for 2009 in order to avoid a dispute over the matter with pay czar Kenneth Feinberg.

62-year old Ken Lewis will have to return around $1 million that he has already withdrawn out of his $1.5 million annual pay.

Kenneth Feinberg has been reviewing the compensation for top executives of seven companies, which are receiving financial support from the government.

Sources informed that in 2008 Ken Lewis had obtained $9.9 million as salary plus bonuses.

Speaking on the topic, Robert Stickler, a spokesman for Bank of America, said that the pay czar recommended that Ken Lewis should not receive any salary for the year and Ken Lewis agreed.

An analyst with Rochdale Securities, Richard Bove, said, “The government is proving they are serious about taking money back for poor performance.”

Mr. Lewis has plans to retire from the bank later this year.