A management team shake-up at Bank of America opened the field of successors to the 62-year old Chief Executive Officer Ken Lewis, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Charlotte, N.C., bank confirmed that former Citigroup Inc. Chief Financial Officer Sallie Krawcheck is taking charge of the global wealth and investment management operations at Bank of America. Brian Moynihan, who had been in charge of that business as well as corporate and investment banking, will now run the consumer bank and the credit card business, while Tom Montag takes corporate and investment banking and keeps global markets. The bank has shuffled senior management and paid $33 million to settle U.S. claims it misled investors while buying Merrill Lynch & Co. Liam McGee, who headed consumer banking, left was replaced by Moynihan in a division that has provided most of the bank’s revenue and profit, said Bloomberg. Moynihan, 49, who ran wealth management and corporate and investment banking, is the top CEO candidate, according to analysts. Possible successors include ex-Citigroup Inc. Krawcheck, , home-lending chief Barbara Desoer, and Chief Financial Officer Joe Price. Also in the running is Tom Montag, a Goldman Sachs Group veteran. The bank, which has had three CEOs since 1973, hasn’t previously disclosed succession plans. The new post is Moynihan’s fourth job since December 2008. He’s worked as head of corporate and investment banking, general counsel and most recently, head of both investment banking and wealth management. He joined the bank through the 2004 acquisition of Fleet Boston Financial Corp. “These changes are designed to drive enhanced performance and to ensure that our strategies and franchise are positioned for maximum success in the coming years,” Lewis said in a statement Monday. “We have all the pieces of the puzzle in place to be the leading financial services firm in the world. Our mission is to take advantage of our position to create value for all our constituencies from shareholders to clients.” The leadership changes follow a regulatory sanction imposed after shareholders stripped Lewis of his chairman’s seat in late April. The so-called memorandum of understanding requires the company to overhaul its board, address perceived problems with risk and liquidity management and take a serious look at management and succession planning. Instead of asking Lewis to leave as CEO, the Federal Reserve pressed the board to bolster the top ranks of the company and have strong people in key positions.
BofA Begins CEO Search, Moynihan Favored
Succession plan sets up race among as many as five leading candidates.
August 4, 2009