Bank of America Corp. is shaking up its management team,
replacing its chief financial officer, its wealth-management chief
and naming a new official to oversee the firm's stress tests with
the Federal Reserve.
The Charlotte bank's chief financial officer, Bruce Thompson, is
leaving the bank, according to an internal memo expected to be sent
to bank employees Wednesday evening.
Mr. Thompson had been considered a close ally of Chairman and
CEO Brian Moynihan, and analysts and investors sometimes tossed
around his name as a potential candidate to take over the bank when
Mr. Moynihan steps down.
In the memo, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Moynihan
praised Mr. Thompson and said he had put the bank on "a strong,
stable financial foundation" and noted the bank's second-quarter
earnings report last week, which beat analysts' expectations.
"I am confident in saying that no finance executive in the world
in the past decade has contended with greater challenges and
discharged his responsibilities with as much skill and grit as
Bruce Thompson," Mr. Moynihan wrote.
Paul Donofrio, a former Navy pilot and Bank of America veteran,
will replace Mr. Thompson. The bank had moved him earlier this year
from his longtime post in the corporate bank to the role of being
CFO of the consumer bank and wealth management, a signal that many
interpreted as him being groomed for the CFO job.
The bank is also telling employees in the memo that David
Darnell, the head of wealth management, is retiring. He will be
succeeded by Terry Laughlin, a longtime Moynihan ally who is
currently overseeing the bank's effort to resubmit its stress test
to the Fed.
Andrea Smith, the head of human resources, will be elevated to
the newly created role of chief administrative oficer, and will
eventually take over control of the stress-test submissions as well
as the "living wills" that the bank must report to regulators.
Mr. Thompson spent the bulk of his career in Bank of America's
investment bank, at times running leveraged finance and capital
markets divisions. Mr. Moynihan hand-picked him for the role of
chief risk officer and then CFO. Mr. Thompson cultivated a
reputation as an intelligent banker and hard worker, but he also
was a key lieutenant during stress tests with the Federal Reserve
that ran into issues.
Stress tests have become important flash points for big banks
since the financial crisis, with the Federal Reserve using them as
an opportunity to review a bank's planning and resilience in a
potential recession. Banks that don't pass the Fed stress generally
can't proceed with their plans to increase dividends or share
buybacks.
Bank of America earlier this year was chastised by the Federal
Reserve for not anticipating problems with its "stress test"
submission, a rebuke that led the firm to hire a bevy of
consultants to help address the issue, the Wall Street reported in
June.
The bank's shares have trailed peers this year, though last week
BofA reported a revenue gain and earnings that beat analysts'
expectations.
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