This forum has noted some of the problems associated with Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan.
Now the latest issue of Fortune offers a lengthy positive profile of Moynihan:
… Moynihan has been vastly underrated. In part, that’s because of his rough-around-the-edges personality. The workaholic Providence lawyer turned hard-core banking brainiac won’t win any awards for public speaking, and he isn’t inclined toward public relations. But a close look at his career reveals that he’s proven his mettle for two decades as a dealmaker, team builder, and crisis manager. And he is perhaps uniquely suited for the job of chief executive in today’s banking world. The business is now so complicated and so fraught with hidden dangers lodged in such esoteric products, that the best leaders are those who are totally immersed in the data and details — the ones who serve as their own risk managers. That’s Moynihan.
Best of all, Moynihan is the architect of a radical blueprint his rivals would be wise to follow. In effect, he wants to turn back the clock, to run Bank of America the way banks were managed before the industry — led by BofA — embraced a strategy of growth at all costs. His goal is to avoid the chronic cycle of making lots of money in good times, then handing it all back in a downturn. It’s something few banks have ever accomplished.
