Bank of America revamps leadership, but CEO plans to stay

Bank of America on Friday made sweeping changes to the company’s leadership that elevated several executives, including three women, to senior positions and virtually guaranteed Brian Moynihan, the chief executive, would remain at the helm of the second. bank of the country for years to come.

The company has promoted Alastair Borthwick, its current director of commercial banking in New York, to chief financial officer. It also gave more responsibility to Dean Athanasia, who heads up the consumer banking division out of Boston. Lauren Mogensen has been promoted to General Counsel.

Mr. Moynihan is 61 years old and the race to succeed him is likely to be long. Senior executives preparing for high-level positions typically need several years of experience overseeing all aspects of a business before they are deemed eligible to take the helm.

Mr Moynihan has indicated his intention to stick around: in a letter to staff he said the new cohort of leaders will help him run the bank in line with a growth strategy he has put in place. up in 2010 – when he took over as CEO – “through his second decade, with me and with all of you.”

Mike Mayo, banking analyst at Wells Fargo, said the changes were welcome, although given Mr. Moynihan’s plans, “it could be one of the longest failures to be CEO.” Mr Mayo said the “number of chefs in the kitchen at the top” could create problems, but added it was “an opportunity to see the ability of senior managers to play well with others.”

The succession of Wall Street’s biggest banks is being watched closely as a generation of CEOs – some of whom have held office since before or shortly after the 2008 financial crisis – approach retirement age. Jamie Dimon, the managing director of JPMorgan Chase, is 65 and has been in the role since 2005. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have raised younger executives, sparking more succession discussions. Jane Fraser succeeded Michael Corbat as CEO of Citigroup this year, becoming the first woman to head a US mega bank.

The Bank of America reshuffle comes after key executives who helped lift the company out of the financial crisis decided to retire or move to jobs less focused on day-to-day operations. Anne Finucane, the bank’s vice president and one of Wall Street’s most influential women, and Thomas K. Montag, its demanding COO, are among those retiring.

Bank of America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, was vilified for its role in the mortgage collapse and paid $ 76.1 billion in fines in the decade following the crash, the most among the largest banks in the country. Mr. Moynihan took the reins in 2010, restoring profits and leading efforts to rebuild his reputation. During his nearly 12-year tenure, shares of Bank of America rose 165%. Mr Moynihan once joked at a college event that his skeptics, who said he would not last as chief executive, should have bought a large chunk of the company’s stock.

Mr. Mayo admitted that he had been one of the opponents. “A little less than a decade ago I thought Brian Moynihan should be fired as CEO, but now I think he’s one of the best,” he said.

Some of the changes were immediate, while more will take place later this year. Other moves include Charlotte-based D. Steve Boland has been promoted to Chief Administrative Officer and Aditya Bhasin has been appointed Chief Technology and Information Officer. Wendy Stewart, who has been chosen to head the commercial bank, and Holly O’Neill, who will head the retail bank, will report to Mr. Athanasia. The heads of the investment banking and trading divisions as well as of wealth management will remain in place.