Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan Reportedly Demoting Chief Risk Officer Gregory Curl – Other Management Announcements Soon

Now that Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan is starting to settle down a little into his new job, he’s starting to think in terms of the team he wants in place at the top of the company, and evidently one of his competitors for the CEO job at the company, Gregory Curl, isn’t one of those he’s going to retain at a top position in the giant bank, according to insider sources.

Speculation has been swirling around since yesterday that Curl may be put out of his current position.

Assuming this to be true, it wouldn’t be a surprise, as many companies will demote or get rid of employees vying for CEO jobs because of the obvious fallout for those who don’t land it.

Former Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis had backed Curl for the job, making it an even more difficult circumstance, as it surely generated other backers for Curl within the company, which can always have a detrimental effect on the incoming CEO, as there can be a built-in resistance to his leadership from the beginning, which can undermine his and the company’s performance. Moynihan obviously wants to avoid that scenario. It’ll be interesting to see if Curl in fact remains at the company or leaves for another position somewhere else.

Curl landed a job with Bank of America in 1996, and has primarily worked with former CEOs concerning risk involved with strategy and acquisitions. Now that Moynihan wants to grow the company within and not through expansion via acquisitions, it makes Curl’s job less needful; possibly one of the reasons for demoting him.

As far as the chief risk officer title and position, Curl only stepped into those responsibilities in June 2009, taking over for Amy Brinkley after pressure from government regulators who wanted major changes on the board of Bank of America, along with those responsible for managing risk in the past.

Expectations concerning Moynihan’s management team are he could make an announcement in as early as two weeks as to who they are and where they’ll be placed in the company.

Analysts and shareholders are especially interested in who will fill the shoes of Moynihan in the retail banking unit he came from before becoming CEO. Past performance and Bank of America shows that the consumer banking unit is what has been the primary driver of growth, and so whoever heads it up is one of the key employees at the company, making whoever it is the key decision for Moynihan concerning his management team heading into 2010.
 
Some feel it could be important for Moynihan to hire from within for the position, sending a signal to his troops and shareholders that he’s confident in the direction and strategy of the company and those in place who can run it. That may be true, but either way, it’s got to be a top candidate who will generate confidence in those who count on consumer banking to drive up the value of the company, as well as its share price.

The bank is expected to report another loss for the fourth quarter, with estimates at over 50 cents a share.