After all is said and done, Bank of America (BAC) has a new CEO. As the New York Times puts it, "Finally, there is white smoke." The new leader of the troubled bank is one of two inside candidates: Brian Moynihan, the head of the consumer banking unit and the pride of the old FleetBoston contingent.

The issue here is whether this appointment is somewhat tainted. The conventional wisdom was that the bank needed an outsider, if only to symbolically break with the troubled past. Even after the bank said the new CEO could work from New York and cut its TARP ties to pay more, it still struck out. You get the feeling that it really wanted Robert Kelly, CEO of BNY Mellon.

So for better or worse, Brian Moynihan is the guy. One question now is how he will rejigger the executive ranks. Specifically, what will become of the other candidate Greg Curl, who seemed to be the favorite until he ran into trouble with Andrew Cuomo. 

For more:
- here's a New York Times article

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