Wachovia chairman and interim CEO Lanty Smith is leading the search for the troubled bank's next CEO. Breakingviews suggests that he needs to hurry up. The delay, to be sure, does not speak well for the bank. Obviously, there was little in the way of formal succession planning. But the article suggests that the opening also represents a shocking lack of CEO talent right now in the banking industry. Those rumored to be in the hunt apparently include William Demcheck of PNC Financial, David Moffett of Carlyle Group, and Alvaro de Molina, a former CFO at Bank of America now with Cerberus. It's interesting that two of the three potential candidates currently are in the alternative investments industry. My sense is that Wachovia would be better off selling itself to a bigger bank. It's an option that board has to take seriously.

For more:
- here's the Breakingviews article

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