Robert Kelley, the CEO of Bank of New York Mellon, who at one point was speculated to be a candidate to replace Ken Lewis as CEO at Bank of America, apparently may finds his own position at risk.  Kelley, whose candidacy for the Bank of America CEO position was a frequent on-off affair, was ultimately forced out of consideration for the BofA position, according to a number of analysts, when news came out that he would need to get an exorbitant deal to take the job at Bank of America.  There was no way in this current atmosphere that BofA would have been able to move forward with a large compensation/buyout package.  Now according to story by American Banking News,

… many are questioning Kelly’s commitment to Bank of New York Mellon, since a lack of pay restrictions might have catapulted him to Charlotte. BNY Mellon spokesperson Rob Gruendl commented that “Bank of America pursued Bob Kelly and they never really got close.” However, this should not ease the concerns of investors. Bove rhetorically asks “Is he here for the duration or will he jump if some other institution, not as influenced by the government, meets his price?”

I have placed Kelley on the CEO Watch List but remain skeptical his position at Bank of NY Mellon is truly at risk.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 11:57 am and is filed under Liberum Management Change. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.