CIT Group Inc. said John Thain, the crisis-era leader of Merrill Lynch & Co., will retire as chief executive of the lender on March 31, though he will remain chairman.

The company also said it will explore strategic options intended to help its transition to a U.S. commercial bank. CIT will pursue options for its commercial air business and sell its CIT Canada and CIT China businesses.

Mr. Thain will be succeeded by board member Ellen R. Alemany, who will become vice chairman effective Nov. 1 and CEO on April 1. Ms. Alemany's background includes positions at the Royal Bank of Scotland Americas and Citigroup Inc.

Mr. Thain, a onetime mortgage-bond trader, has been around the block on Wall Street, having served as president of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange. He was brought in as chairman and chief executive of Merrill Lynch during the financial crisis and left after it was forced into a merger with Bank of America Corp.

After the Merrill deal was announced, Mr. Thain encountered difficulties when it emerged that employees of the investment bank received bonuses despite the dire state of the financial system. Mr. Thain was ousted the following year after a flurry of reports about the bonuses and the executive's decision to redecorate his office.

In 2010 Mr. Thain joined CIT, a lender to small and medium businesses that had filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Mr. Thain has been building out the firm's consumer and commercial businesses while shedding nonstrategic assets.

CIT earlier this year closed its deal to buy IMB Holdco LLC, the parent company of OneWest Bank NA, part of Mr. Thain's bid to acquire a bank-branch network

Mr. Thain's retirement marks the latest executive departure at CIT. On Monday, CIT said Chief Financial Officer Scott T. Parker is leaving in November to become CFO of consumer-focused lender Springleaf Holdings Inc. Controller Carol Hayles will take his place.

Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 21, 2015 17:05 ET (21:05 GMT)

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