Krawcheck Joins BofA Amid Talk of Succession

Bank of America said Monday that it hired Sallie Krawcheck, who was most recently the head of global wealth management at archrival Citigroup, to lead its global wealth and investment management business.
The hiring was part of a series of management shifts at the bank, which Kenneth Lewis, the company’s chief executive, suggested would help address the question of who might eventually lead the bank after him. The management changes “position a number of senior executives to compete to succeed me at the appropriate time,” Mr. Lewis said in a statement Monday announcing the changes.
Bank of America also announced Monday that Brian Moynihan, now the head of the bank’s global corporate and investment banking and global wealth management arms, would become the head of consumer banking, a division that will include Bank of America’s deposit, small-business and credit card businesses.
Liam McGee, who runs the consumer and small-business banking unit and has been with the bank for nearly 20 years, is leaving the company. Mr. McGee said in Monday’s press release that he planned to “pursue my goal of running a company.”
Tom Montag, who has been the bank’s head of global markets, will take on the additional role of running the global corporate and investment banking business, Bank of America said.
Mr. Montag has been rising quickly in Bank of America’s corporate ladder. He came to the bank as part of its acquisition of Merrill Lynch, after running Merrill’s global sales and trading operations for equities and debt. He was recruited to Merrill in August 2008 by Merrill’s chief executive at the time, John Thain. Before arriving at Merrill, Mr. Montag had been the co-head of global securities trading at Goldman Sachs.
Ms. Krawcheck was one of Wall Street’s most powerful women when she left Citigroup last September, as the bank was reportedly preparing to strip her of most of her responsibilities as head of its wealth management unit. The New York Times reported in November that she had disagreed with Vikram Pandit, Citi’s new chief executive, on a number of business issues.
“These changes are designed to drive enhanced performance and to ensure that our strategies and franchise are positioned for maximum success in the coming years,” Mr. Lewis said Monday. “We have all the pieces of the puzzle in place to be the leading financial services firm in the world.”