Former Citi CFO takes Bank of America job

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bank of America Corp. shuffled some of its top executives Monday and said some of the managers might be in a position to succeed CEO Ken Lewis.

One of the changes brought former Citigroup Chief Financial Officer Sallie Krawcheck to Bank of America to run its global wealth and investment management operation. The company also announced that its head of consumer banking was leaving and that other executives were being moved into new positions. The bank, which received $45 billion in bailout money, is under pressure from the federal government to improve its performance.

“Those are some substantive changes,” said Tony Plath, a finance professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “The government is pressing not only for changes in BofA’s board, but in their management team.”

Bank of America spokesman Robert Stickler said the government had nothing to do with the job changes.

“The management changes were done by Chief Executive Ken Lewis in consultation with the board,” Stickler told The Associated Press.

Krawcheck is taking over for Brian Moynihan, who will become head of consumer banking. Moynihan is succeeding Liam McGee, who is leaving the company after a nearly 20-year career.

Tom Montag, who currently runs the bank’s global markets unit, will assume another role from Moynihan, the bank’s global corporate and investment banking unit.

The management restructuring could give Bank of America multiple options when Lewis, 62, is ready to leave the company. “These changes also position a number of senior executives to compete to succeed me at the appropriate time,” the bank said.

Lewis has said he would like to remain as CEO until the government loan is repaid and the company turns around its operations after the current economic downturn ends. He has been under particular scrutiny since shareholders stripped him of his chairman’s title in April, and also because of the company’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co.

“I think Ken Lewis has already defied people like me … that since he lost the chairmanship, we didn’t think he would hold onto his CEO job, but he has,” said Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. analyst Paul Miller. “I do think there is a lot of pressure on him.”

Some of the pressure is from the government, which has also been a force behind the ongoing reshuffling of the Bank of America board. Three directors departed the bank last week.

On Monday, Bank of America said separately that it agreed to pay a $33 million penalty to settle government charges that it misled investors about Merrill Lynch’s plans to pay bonuses to its employees during the time it was acquiring the Wall Street firm. Bank of America did not acknowledge any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

The bank has been among the hardest hit by the credit crisis and recession. It received $25 billion at the peak of the credit crisis last fall and another $20 billion, plus guarantees to protect the bank against losses on some risky investments, after Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

Bank of America stock rose 53 cents, or 3.58 percent, to $15.32 Monday.

Krawcheck, 44, left Citigroup in a management shuffle in late 2008 after serving as head of the company’s global wealth management division and before that, chief financial officer. It is believed that Krawcheck left amid friction with Citi CEO Vikram Pandit.

Aite Group bank analyst Alois Pirker said Krawcheck is a welcomed addition to Bank of America.

“Here you have somebody coming in with experience, clearly recognized in the industry,” Pirker said. “Ultimately, it could be (a) healthy element for the bank.”

Citigroup, has been among the biggest recipients of government support amid the downturn. Citigroup has also received $45 billion in loans and guarantees to cover hundreds of billions in potential losses on risky investments. Citigroup has also undergone major management changes in recent months, which analysts say also came at the government’s insistence.

AP Business Writer Stephen Bernard in New York contributed to this report.