Greg Curl, a former executive at Boatmen's Bank in St. Louis who rose through the upper ranks of Bank of America, may be the perfect candidate to replace Ken Lewis, Bank of America's ousted chief executive, an industry analyst says.
"He has all the right characteristics needed for this company at this time, including his Boatmen's background in core banking, Bank of America's most important business," said Richard Bove, a financial sector analyst with Rochdale Research. "If needs define who the new leader of Bank of America will be, the winner is likely to be Gregory Curl."
A native of Springfield, Mo., and a 1970 graduate of Southwest Missouri State, Curl joined Boatmen's in 1982 and rose to vice chairman before helping orchestrate its $8.7 billion sale to NationsBank in 1996. He stayed with NationsBank through its sale to Bank of America, and began reporting directly to Lewis in 2006.
Richard Bove also cited Curl's current experience as chief risk officer, his past experience as head of planning, and his political savvy, having served as chief assistant to Missouri Sen. Jack Danforth.
"Additionally, Mr. Curl is 60 years old," Bove said. "He could be viewed as an interim leader brought in to fix the bank's problems while a new younger leader is groomed."
Bank of America plans to make a decision on the appointment of an "emergency" chief executive officer this week, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Curl also did much of the heavy lifting in Bank of America's $50 billion acquisition of Merrill Lynch a year ago.
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