With the announcement that Bank of America CEO Ken is leaving his post at the end of the year, the issue now becomes who will succeed him.
AP
Bank of America board member Donald Powell told CNBC Thursday that finding a successor to Lewis will be orderly and directed toward finding the right person. (see video for full interview with Powell)
"Ken will be there till the end of the year so there's plenty of time to have an orderly process." Powell said. "It will be a good process and the right person will be found."
When asked to name a successor, Powell declined specific names saying, "The person will have grit and understand the competitive nature of the business and understand we are in a regulatory mode these days."
Powell went on to say that Lewis made his own decision to leave and was not pushed out by the board.
Meanwhile, CNBC is reporting that several names are on the succession list including:
- Thomas Montag
Bank of America Global Banking & Markets Pres. - Barbara Desoer
Bank of America Home Loans & Insurance Pres. - Sallie Krawcheck
Bank of America Global Wealth & Investment Management Pres. - Brian Moynihan
Bank of America Consumer & Small Business Banking Pres. - Joe Price
Bank of America CFO - Gregory Curl
Bank of America Chief Risk Officer
CNBC is also reporting that there could be a move to select a company board member on an interim basis.
Names on that list include Chad Gifford, chairman emeritus of Bank of America, who briefly presided over the bank holding company after the Charlotte, N.C., bank bought FleetBoston in 2004 and William Boardman, the retired executive of Bank One Corporation and Visa International.
Lewis, 62, announced his retirement on Wednesday. He ran Bank of America for nearly a decade, succeeding his mentor Hugh McColl in 2001.
After being named to the top spot, he proceeded to build one of the nation's largest financial services companies through aggressive acquisitions. But in the last year, Lewis was the subject of rising political criticism, along with federal and state investigations into the bank's acquisition of Merrill Lynch in late 2008 and early 2009.
- Where Did Lewis Go Wrong?
Lewis had previously announced hopes of retiring after the bank repaid $45 billion in government assistance, or when he hit the company's mandatory retirement age of 65.
BofA's shareholders voted in April to oust Lewis as chairman after months of mounting criticism of his stewardship of the bank.
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