In a move that is likely to maintain a culture of parsimony and cost-effective acquisitions, Bank of New York Co. on Tuesday named president Thomas Renyi as next in line to replace J. Carter Bacot, the bank's 61-year-old chairman and chief executive officer.
The bank's board of directors also named Mr. Renyi chief operating officer and Alan Griffith, who now holds that job, to the post of vice chairman. Both new titles are effective immediately.
Mr. Bacot, who will turn 62 in February, said he plans to retire in 1998, after he turns 65. He has been the bank's chairman since 1982.
Mr. Renyi "is a successor who was brought up in that culture and will retain that culture," said Dennis Shea, a banking analyst at Morgan Stanley.
Mr. Renyi, 48, said the move means he will also be responsible for retail banking and human resources in addition to his current duties. Now, Mr. Renyi is responsible for all fee-based products, including securities processing, domestic and international cash management, corporate banking, and credit policy.
In his new post, Mr. Renyi said, he will attempt to expand the bank's 400-branch presence in the New York metropolitan area. "We have had a history of late in being interested in retail acquisitions. If there are any that fit our criteria in terms of price and location, we certainly would be actively interested," he said.
Analysts said they were a little surprised the bank announced a successor since they are not convinced Mr. Bacot wants to retire, even at age 65. "He's always shown an enormous zest for the company. You might say he will leave at 65, but I won't be surprised if he stayed on longer," said Paine Webber's Lawrence Cohn.
The move may also deflate rumors of a merger of equals with Fleet Financial Group, because Mr. Renyi is about the same age as the Providence-based bank's chairman, Terence Murray. That would make it difficult to choose a new leader if the two banks merged.
Until he was named president in 1992, Mr. Renyi had been in competition for the chairmanship with Mr. Griffith. As vice chairman, Mr. Griffith will take over the bank's highly successful credit card business.
Mr. Renyi started his career at Bank of New York in 1971 as a management trainee. In his 23 years at the $50.3 billion-asset bank, he has taken on a variety of roles, including chief credit policy officer, head of the bank's capital markets division, and member of the bank's senior policy committee.
One of his most notable accomplishments included heading the Bank of New York's transition after its 1987 hostile takeover of Irving Trust Co. Mr. Shea said the subsequent transition was extremely difficult. Mr. Renyi had to consolidate huge, unruly back-office operations. Both companies were very large processors of government securities and custodians of securities lending.
Mr. Renyi is also responsible for aggressively paring down the bank's problem assets by selling distressed assets in 1991, before many of its peers.
