CHARLOTTE - Bank of America Corp. has begun its search for a successor for general counsel Paul Polking, who announced last week that he will retire by yearend.
A spokeswoman said the company had hired a nationwide recruiting firm and would interview employees and others as candidates.
Mr. Polking, 65, has worked at Bank of America and the predecessor NationsBank Corp., both in Charlotte, since 1970 and has been lead general counsel since 1988.
During that time B of A grew from a regional player into the largest consumer banking company in the United States, with $680 billion of assets.
The news came during a week when two other major banking companies named successors to their general counsels.
Last Tuesday, Wells Fargo & Co. in San Francisco named deputy general counsel Jim Strother, 52, to succeed Stan Stroup, 59, who plans to retire at yearend.
Like Mr. Polking, Mr. Stroup presided over a major expansion. In a press release announcing his retirement, Wells' chairman and chief executive, Richard Kovacevich, said: "Stan has played a key role in building Wells Fargo into one of the nation's, and the world's, most admired companies, with a reputation for integrity and a respect not only for the letter of the law but spirit of the law."
Also last Tuesday, Comerica Inc. of Detroit said Jon W. Bilstrom, 57, would succeed George W. Madison as general counsel on June 1. Mr. Madison, 49, has been named executive vice president and general counsel at TIAA-CREF in New York.
Mr. Polking will be the third member of Bank of America's operating committee to depart this year. Chuck Goslee, 59, retired as the head of quality and productivity in April after two years with the company, and global markets head Duncan Goldie-Morrison left in a reorganization in February.
The spokeswoman said that Mr. Polking, who told colleagues of his retirement in an e-mail last week, was not available to discuss his plans.
