CIT CEO John Thain to Retire
22 October 2015 - 8:20AM
Dow Jones News
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
Access Investor Kit for "CitiGroup Inc"
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US1729674242
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 21, 2015 17:05 ET (21:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
CIT (NYSE:CIT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
CIT (NYSE:CIT)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024