Bank of America names Brian Moynihan CEO
FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 picture, Brian Moynihan, bank of America president of consumer and small business banking, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the role of the federal government in the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch merger. On Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009, Bank of America says the retail banking head will replace Ken Lewis as CEO on Jan. 1, 2010. The bank's naming of an internal executive on Wednesday follows unsuccessful attempts to hire an outside star banker for the top job. Those negotiations were stymied by pay restrictions imposed by government pay czar Kenneth Feinberg. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
(Alex Brandon - AP)
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Thursday, December 17, 2009
Bank of America named the head of its retail banking operations as its new chief executive Wednesday night, settling on an internal candidate after courting several executives from smaller but less troubled banks.
The company's board of directors said it voted unanimously to select Brian Moynihan, 50, a lawyer by training who joined Bank of America in 2004 when it acquired his former employer, FleetBoston Financial.
Moynihan will succeed Kenneth D. Lewis, who plans to retire at the end of the year. Moynihan climbed rapidly under Lewis, but he was appointed only this August as head of retail banking, the company's crown jewel. Some investors questioned whether he was ready to take another step.
The board said that it considered a number of outside candidates before making its decision. Robert F. Kelly, the chief executive of Bank of New York Mellon, was among the candidates who rejected overtures.
"The board decided after listening to shareholders, regulators and others that Brian's experience was commensurate with or better than any of those candidates, and he offered the advantage of a smooth transition," said Walter E. Massey, the company's chairman.
Moynihan inherits a sprawling company that just repaid emergency government aid and still is losing vast amounts of money on the loans it made in recent years. He also faces the challenge of integrating Merrill Lynch, the troubled investment bank that Lewis bought last fall. But Bank of America, which serves more consumers than any other bank, also has an unmatched ability to profit as the economy recovers.
"We have everything we need at Bank of America to be the best financial services company in the world," Moynihan said. "What we need to do now is very simple. We need to execute."
