Apparently Bank of America Corp.'s (NYSE:BAC) search for a new CEO is at a standstill, according to a
Wall Street Journal report.
The board was hoping to pick a successor for Ken Lewis by Wednesday, but the committee choosing the new CEO needs more time. Lewis actually forewarned that the committee was taking its time during his
Oct. 16 earnings conference call. Lewis said on the call that the
search for a successor for CEO
was being done with a sense of urgency and balance. Lewis said he would
give his recommendation for a successor to the board, but he would not
tell analysts who it was. However, would any candidate really benefit from Lewis' thumbs-up in the eye of the public? After all, association with Lewis, who is being scrutinized for his handling of the Merrill Lynch & Co. takeover, is not a positive in the eyes of angry shareholders.
In fact the association with Lewis may be hampering the process because the two main candidates reportedly slated to become CEO are internal BofA executives: chief risk officer
Gregory Curl and Brian Moynihan, the bank's consumer and
small-business banking chief. Both
were involved in the Merrill Lynch deal. As The Deal
has reported major shareholders including Jonathan Finger of Finger Interests Number One Ltd. oppose choosing Curl or Moynihan as CEO for this reason. Finger told The Deal that
he prefers outside candidates for the job who would take the company in a new direction and would not be at risk to face lawsuits involving the Merrill deal.
At this point if there were not any concerns about Curl or Moynihan, the committee would probably have chosen already. But it seems that the committee is reaching outside of the bank. Some candidates mentioned in the WSJ article include:
- Ajay Banga, who left Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) to become president and
chief operating officer at MasterCard Inc. (NYSE:MA). He apparently turned down the job.
- James Hance Jr., a former Bank of America vice chairman and finance
chief who retired in 2005.
- Former Bank of America chief financial officer Al de Molina, now the CEO of GMAC. However, the WSJ reports he was eliminated from the candidates.
- BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK). CEO Laurence D. Fink was also mentioned as a candidate, but the Journal reports he wasn't contacted by the bank and has no interest in leaving BlackRock.
Another banker who BofA may also be considering includes Bill Winters, who recently was let go from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM). He leaves the bank in January and is
considering other positions. Winters is known as one of the best risk managers on the Street, as
Felix Salmon points out. -
Maria Woehr
Follow me on Twitter @newsgirlmw
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BoA will have more problems in the future with the way they (and other credit lenders) are treating customers by changing fixed rate loans to adjustable rates. Because they got themselves into trouble their customers have to suffer? It's not right and I believe Americans are tired of being taken advantage of. Contracts are useless to the consumer. So the only alternative is not to borrow at all. And hopefully we are heading to a cash society again. And finally the credit agencies will get their just dues.