Headless BofA

Mark DeCambre is right: it seems that Bank of America (BAC) is going to remain headless at least until Thanksgiving. No outsider seems to want the job — the list of people who have turned it down seems to include everybody who works or has ever worked at JP Morgan (JPM), plus former BofA executive Michael O’Neill, who went on to head up both Barclays (BCS) and Bank of Hawaii. Meanwhile, the leading insider, Brian Moynihan, can’t conceivably be tapped until after his Congressional testimony on November 17.

It’s not as if Ken Lewis’s reputation needed to take another hit, but here it is anyway: He’s created a monster with no succession plan and no ability to hire a CEO. At least when Hugh McColl was building the monster it was always clear that Lewis would be there if he ever fell under a bus. Lewis, by contrast, made sure to throw any potential rivals out of their top-floor windows on a regular basis. And now the BofA board is struggling with the consequences of those decisions.

Comments

[Roger Knights:]

"Lewis, by contrast, made sure to throw any potential rivals out of their top-floor windows on a regular basis."

Stockholders should similarly "toss" the current BOD and elect the defenestrated execs in their place.

Nov 06 04:07 PM

[Tomos:]

I thought Obama was head of the bank.

Nov 06 05:45 PM

[Rwong8200:]

BAC is more then headless they have lost any sense of business. My personal experience makes me wonder if they can survive once off the governement nipple. They cancelled my Home Equity line of credit. I never drew on the line. When questioned I was told to submit real estate comps which I did. BAC after 40 days sent me a note saying they needed more information when I called them they advised me I was still rejected. After doing banking with BAC and Countrywide for many years I would suggest anyone take their business elsewhere. As taxpayers we are being screwed over.

Nov 07 12:34 PM