Paul Davis

Far from predicting the worst is over, BB&T chief Kelly King offered remarks during an earnings conference call that foreshadowed an indefinite case of the doldrums for the industry.

Departing Chief Executive Kenneth D. Lewis had better hope Bank of America Corp.'s third-quarter results are not the final draft of his legacy. Nearly all the company's big acquisitions of the past four years contributed to a hefty loss. Cards, mortgages and private banking were in the red; commercial lending suffered notable credit losses, and investment banking income dipped from the preceding quarter.

Departing Chief Executive Kenneth D. Lewis had better hope Bank of America Corp.'s third-quarter results are not the final draft of his legacy.

JPMorgan Chase CFO Cavanagh plays down succession speculation; familiar name moving up the ranks at Synovus; former BB&T chief Allison a hall of famer; and more.

The apparent end of a sticking point between Bank of America Corp. and investigators of the Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. takeover highlights the pitfalls of big companies hiring numerous law firms for legal opinions.

The Service Employees International Union, which has locked horns with B of A for years, sent a letter asking Kenneth Feinberg, the White House's special adviser on executive compensation, to halt any retirement payments to Lewis.

It's open season on cash housed in money market funds. For a year the government backed more than $2.5 trillion of investments in such funds, but the Treasury Department allowed that guarantee to expire last month.

KeyCorp chairman and CEO Henry L. Meyer 3rd not aspiring to come in first; investment banks still dominate listing of most prestigious banking employers; and more.

Krawcheck, who had been at Citigroup Inc. two years ago when CEO Charles O. Prince resigned without an immediate successor named, made it clear in opening remarks that she would be "dodging and weaving" any inquiry tied to the vacuum left by Lewis.

If the directors of Bank of America Corp. were caught flat-footed last week by the news that their chief executive officer wanted out, they would have been in good company.

B of A's Krawcheck, former secretary of state Rice, and Wells Fargo's Schulte either joined or left boards this week; Thursday: "Resolve-Your-Beef-with-a-Megabank" day.

The next Bank of America Corp. chief executive will inherit a long to-do list, and have to plot a course designed to please a wide range of people.

The fourth quarter started off roughly for bank stocks as investors remained wary about an impending recovery. The KBW Bank Index tumbled 5%, the Dow Jones Industrial average 2.1%, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index 2.6%.

It didn't take Lynn Pike long to make an impact at Capital One Financial Corp. Six months after becoming the president of Capital One's bank, Pike said she would like to see the company make another acquisition to start bridging "the white space" between far-flung operations along the Gulf Coast and Northeast.

Few women in banking draw as much attention as Sallie Krawcheck. A mainstay on lists of powerful women, Krawcheck joined Bank of America in August to take over its brokerage and wealth management operations.

Yet bankers and consultants agree: Companies could trim still more fat if they are willing to dive deeper into their operating expenses. Some believe that another 20% of spending can be cut from annual budgets, with the best targets being outsourcing contracts for software, transaction processing, property maintenance and other services.

Bank of America Corp. announced Wednesday it will sell the stock and bond mutual-fund business of its asset-management unit to Ameriprise Financial Inc. for up to $1.2 billion in cash.

The Ken Lewis era at Bank of America Corp. is in its final stage. B of A announced late Wednesday that Lewis will retire from the Charlotte company on Dec. 31. The company said the board is evaluating successors for the executive, with expectations of having the new CEO named by time Lewis steps down.

Banks stocks fell along with broader equities Tuesday after a report showed that consumers remain wary of the economy despite encouraging comments from government officials in recent weeks.

Sallie Krawcheck, hired last month to run the business, made the announcements Tuesday in an internal memo that named her direct reports. The executives include eight from Merrill Lynch & Co., two from B of A, and an outside hire from Citigroup Inc. B of A bought Merrill in January; Krawcheck was a Citi executive until leaving late last year.