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 So the board of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) has narrowed down its list of CEO candidates to three -- for the time being. The Deal spoke to management and financial services consulting expert Dino Mauricio of
Getzler Henrich & Associates LLC about the candidates suggested by The Wall Street Journal -- Greg Curl, Brian Moynihan and Greg Fleming -- and he offered some thoughts. Mauricio said of Moynihan, BofA's head of consumer and small-business banking: "Moynihan -- with meaningful experience running several BoA divisions, general counsel background and the person who won the highly coveted global head of banking and wealth management post last January -- is the more capable successor despite some past tensions with Merrill executives in the wake of the John Thain dismissal." In simpler terms, Mauricio said Moynihan's the best candidate. On the topic of Curl, the bank's chief risk officer, Mauricio pointed to his weaknesses: "While Greg Curl obviously brings strong credit/risk credentials, many feel BoA is no longer in 'crisis' and the new CEO needs to be a leader focused on energizing/unifying the business units, effectively implementing necessary changes to the organization and operations, and addressing the broader challenges of achieving profitable growth in a difficult global economy." Of course, Moynihan has been listed as Lewis' successor for awhile (even longer than Curl), which is not surprising. Moynihan has done his share of mopping up after Lewis' merger messes since he arrived in 2004. He vaulted to the top when he was tapped as the go-to-guy to help integrate Merrill Lynch & Co. after John Thain was forced out. He is a lawyer by trade, who was general counsel at Fleet Financial Group and wound up at BofA as part of the bank's acquisition of Fleet in 2004, according to Boston.com. Moynihan was most likely Lewis' choice since he vaulted him to the top so quickly. Only he didn't have time to prepare him. Nonetheless, Moynihan's strength is consumer banking, as Jim Cramer on Blogging Stocks points out: Moynihan has done a remarkable job at the one part of Bank of America's business that everyone applauds: the company's consumer banking division. He's the best at it. The firm's the second best at consumer banking after Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). It has a shot at being better because Merrill Lynch is such a great platform for wealth management and Countrywide's such a great mortgage platform. Theoretically, Moynihan could do what Lewis promised but did not have the chance to, which is really focus on integrating the bank and consumer operations. But there's a good argument for Curl to be placed in the role of CEO as well. Mauricio says, "Curl's appointment would certainly appease shareholders' concerns on how BoA can operate successfully under more intense regulatory requirements and risk management pressure." Curl's expertise could remain with BofA in his current role. However, since Curl is 61 years old and would only be able to serve as CEO for a couple years, he could theoretically help restructure the bank and get BofA back on its feet because he knows the bank inside out and could prep it for Moynihan, who is only 49. Meanwhile, their candidacies ahead of longtime BofA executives Barbara Desoer and Joe Price, who were mentioned in earlier stories, likely have to do with their independence from Lewis and his predecessor Hugh McColl. Not only did Moynihan join BofA after a merger, but so did Curl, who joined BofA's predecessor NationsBank when it purchased Boatmen's Bankshare where he was vice chairman of corporate development and global corporate planning and strategy. He then became both McColl's and later Lewis' right-hand man when seeking deals. According to a Bloomberg article, he's probably the dealmaker that has done more bank mergers than anyone else and has helped orchestrate both Lewis' and McColl's dreams of turning Bank of America into the big behemoth that it became. Here's a flashback from Bloomberg, Sept: 24, 2008: Curl was in action again last week, helping Lewis weigh, and reject, a takeover of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and seal the $50 billion purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. ... Described by associates as plain-spoken and usually dressed in a conservative blue suit, Curl crisscrosses the globe to carry out Lewis' ambitions. Since 2005, he has reported directly to the chief..."He has no need to be noticed,'' said Hugh L. McColl Jr., who worked closely with Curl as the previous Bank of America CEO. "If there were 10 people in the room, or 100,000, you'd never pick him out.'' Theoretically, the fact that Curl was involved with the disastrous Merrill deal should eliminate him from the running, except if there is one person who knows exactly everything about how BofA operates and how to fix it, it would be Curl, which is why he is the risk officer at the moment. Curl is actually Rochdale Securities' Richard Bove's favorite choice. As FT Alphaville points out:
None of the candidates may have to wait long for a decision because the board will meet on Oct. 9 to decide which one will receive the corner office in Charlotte, N.C., when Lewis officially leaves. - Maria Woehr Also see: BofA's Ken Lewis: A look back at his career
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