Since taking the reins in July, Wachovia Corp. president and CEO Robert Steel has cleaned house as the struggling bank tries to recover from bad investments, mostly from the mortgage fallout. He just
hired Kenneth Phelan as chief risk officer. Phelan was head of risk management services at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and has worked at Bank One and UBS, where he was head of global loan portfolio risk management and hedging. Phelan began his career in 1986 covering capital markets at Credit Suisse Group. He replaces Donald Truslow, who is retiring. Truslow joined Wachovia in 1980 and was treasurer and comptroller before becoming CRO in 2000.
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Phelan will arrive in early October and report to Steel. Steel
(pictured) took over after the bank ousted chief executive Ken
Thompson, who took heat for leading a $24.5 billion purchase of Golden
West Financial Corp. in 2006, which significantly increased Wachovia's exposure to mortgage investments.
Steel recently
brought in Carlyle Group's David Zwiener as chief financial officer,
effective Oct. 1. He replaces Thomas Wurtz, who announced his departure
in July. A week before that, Wachovia's brokerage arm landed 26-year
Bear Stearns Cos. veteran Craig Overlander as managing director and
global head of fixed income. Also, Banc of America Securities LLC's
chief investment strategist, Tom McManus, joined Wachovia Securities
LLC as chief investment officer and director of advisory services.
Its also worth noting a Bizjournals.com report on
Wachovia merger speculation.
They say Wells Fargo has long been seen as a merger partner given the
San Francisco bank's dominance in the West and Wachovia's dominant
Eastern franchise. But Morgan Stanley and Goldman, Sachs & Co.
might find themselves seeking to combine with a commercial bank,
especially following this week's buyout of Merrill Lynch & Co. by
Bank of America Corp.
Wachovia shares were down over 11% in premarket trading to $10.24, off a 52-week high of $53.10.
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Baz HiralalKenneth Phelan joins Wachovia as CROWachovia merger talk heats up on share price, CEO's remarks
