MEDIA RELEASE PR37631
Bank of America Board of Directors Elects Brian Moynihan CEO
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 17 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
Moynihan to Assume New Office Effective January 1, 2010
The Bank of America Board of Directors today elected Brian T. Moynihan as
chief executive officer and president of the company. He will assume the
office and join the Board of Directors following the retirement of Kenneth D.
Lewis on December 31, 2009.
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Moynihan, 50, has held senior leadership positions at Bank of America
representing experience across virtually all business lines. He currently is
president of Consumer and Small Business Banking, which has relationships
with about 53 million households and small businesses across the United
States.
"Brian's wide range of experience, his relationships inside and outside
of the company, and his demonstrated ability to understand business dynamics
and effect constructive change made him the best person for the position,"
said Dr. Walter E. Massey, chairman of Bank of America, who led a search that
considered both internal and external candidates.
"Brian has been the top executive leading wealth management, corporate
and investment banking and consumer banking. His work with international
clients in our capital markets businesses has given him broad knowledge of
and perspective on global financial services markets. He has excelled in
every role, earning the loyalty and respect of customers and associates
alike. In short, Brian brings the right combination of knowledge, experience
and leadership to achieve all of our company's goals for the future.
"While we considered external candidates," Massey continued, "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. Bank of America has a
talented team, and one of our principal jobs as directors is to support that
team as it goes about creating value for all of our constituencies."
Moynihan, who was named to his current role earlier this year, joined
FleetBoston Financial (a predecessor to Bank of America) in 1993. He
subsequently rose to senior positions at that company. Fleet was acquired by
Bank of America in 2004.
"I am honored to have the opportunity to lead this important company,"
said Moynihan. "We have everything we need at Bank of America to be the best
financial services company in the world. We have leading positions in every
important sector and market. We have capabilities that I believe match or
exceed all our competitors. We have the right values and culture, and we have
an unbelievably dedicated management team and associate base.
"What we need to do now is very simple," Moynihan continued. "We need to
execute. This company has a long tradition of operational excellence and
strong execution. My goal is to refocus our efforts and attention on those
core capabilities that will make us the best financial services firm in the
world.
"Clearly, customers and clients have benefited from the franchise Ken
Lewis, Hugh McColl and others have built over the decades. Our business model
has also worked for shareholders. Before the crisis, we were the most
efficient banking company with our business mix in the country, and we will
see that as a target going forward. I believe we have the scale, capital,
liquidity and diversity of income that all support safety and soundness.
"But as the world has changed, we must continue to be flexible and build
on our strong tradition, and change to meet our customers' needs," Moynihan
said. "We think of this not as changing the business model, but changing the
way we do business. We are committed to fairness and transparency as we seek
to provide the best financial products and services in the world."
Since taking over Consumer and Small Business Banking last August,
Moynihan has spearheaded the introduction of a new Basic Credit Card, the
freezing of credit card rates and the amending of overdraft policies to
benefit customers.
Moynihan will succeed Lewis, who has served as Bank of America's chief
executive officer since 2001. Lewis recently announced that he will retire
from the company after a 40-year career on December 31, 2009.
"I have worked closely with Brian Moynihan for six years, and I believe
he is the right person to lead our company forward," Lewis said. "He is a
decisive leader and an exacting manager. He understands the U.S. and global
financial services markets, and is extremely adept at the art of managing
risk and reward. He knows this company and its capabilities as well as, if
not better than, anyone. Most importantly, he cares deeply about our
customers, our shareholders, our associates and the communities we serve. I
applaud the Board's choice - Brian is the perfect leader to bring our many
market-leading businesses together, to build on our long-standing culture of
operational excellence, and to make sure our focus stays 100 percent on our
customers and clients as we move ahead."
About Brian Moynihan
Brian Moynihan joined FleetBoston Financial in April 1993. He was
promoted to lead Corporate Strategy and Development and then went on to lead
Global Wealth and Investment Management at the company. Following Bank of
America's 2004 merger with FleetBoston Financial, he joined Bank of America
as president of Global Wealth and Investment Management, overseeing the
delivery of industry-leading financial services to individual and
institutional investors, commercial businesses and large corporations,
financial institutions and government entities across the United States and
in more than 150 countries.
From 2007 to 2009, Moynihan served as president of Global Corporate and
Investment Banking, leading a business delivering a wide range of financial
services products and services to more than 140,000 clients around the world,
ranging from small, high-growth and middle-market companies to large
multinational corporations, government entities, financial sponsors and
institutional investors.
Moynihan is a member of the bank's executive management team, and chairs
Bank of America's Global Diversity and Inclusion Council.
Moynihan is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Notre
Dame Law School. He serves on the boards of directors of YouthBuild Boston
and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston. He is a former chairman of the
Travelers Aid Society of Rhode Island and Providence Haitian Project, Inc.
About Kenneth D. Lewis
Lewis was named chief executive officer in 2001, succeeding Hugh L.
McColl, Jr., who served as CEO from 1983 to 2001. Lewis joined North Carolina
National Bank (NCNB, predecessor to NationsBank and Bank of America) in 1969
as a credit analyst in Charlotte. After serving in a variety of leadership
roles across the company, he was named chief executive officer and president
of Bank of America in April of 2001.
Lewis was born in 1947 in Meridian, Mississippi. He earned a bachelor's
degree in finance from Georgia State University, and is a graduate of the
Executive Program at Stanford University.
Lewis is the only two-time winner of American Banker newspaper's "Banker
of the Year" award (2002, 2008). He was named in 2007 as one of the 100 most
influential people in the world by Time magazine.
During Lewis' tenure, Bank of America attracted millions of new customers
and expanded existing relationships through the creation of new financial
products, services, delivery channels and technologies, and by improving
customer satisfaction significantly across every major line of business.
Through selective acquisitions, Lewis garnered market-leading positions and
opportunities for future growth for the bank in important markets and sectors
of the financial services industry, including the Northeast and Midwest U.S.
banking markets, private banking, card services, home lending, wealth
management and investment banking.
Under Lewis' leadership, Bank of America announced new 10-year,
nationwide goals for community development lending and investing ($1.5
trillion) and philanthropic giving ($2 billion), and a $20 billion
Environmental Initiative aimed at investing in the companies and technologies
that are helping to create environmental and economic sustainability around
the world.
Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions,
serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large
corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and
other financial and risk management products and services. The company
provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 53
million consumer and small business relationships with 6,000 retail banking
offices, more than 18,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more
than 29 million active users. Bank of America is among the world's leading
wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and
investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes serving
corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world.
Bank of America offers industry-leading support to more than 4 million small
business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products
and services. The company serves clients in more than 150 countries. Bank of
America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones
Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
SOURCE: Bank of America
CONTACT: Investors May Contact:
Kevin Stitt, Bank of America,
+1-704-386-5667,
Lee McEntire, Bank of America,
+1-704-388-6780;
Reporters May Contact:
Robert Stickler, Bank of America,
+1-704-386-8465,
robert.stickler@bankofamerica.com
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