CIT Appoints Former Merrill Lynch & JPMorgan Chase Executive as Interim CEO

New York Times
January 19, 2010

The CIT Group, the small to mid-market lender, said late Tuesday that it has appointed a director, Peter J. Tobin, as its interim chief executive as it looks for a permanent new leader.

Mr. Tobin, 64, will replace Jeffrey M. Peek, who left the firm on Friday. CIT is currently interviewing a number of candidates for its next chief executive; among them, according to news reports, is John A. Thain, the former chief executive of Merrill Lynch.

He has been a CIT director since 2002, and previously served on the firm’s board from 1984 to 2001. During his time on CIT’s board, he had at points chaired its audit committee and risk management committee and served as lead director.

Mr. Tobin, spent most of his career at Chase Manhattan (now JPMorgan Chase), including as chief financial officer of Chase and predecessor Chemical Banking Corporation.

From 1998 until 2005, he also worked in various roles at St. John’s University, including dean of the Peter J. Tobin College of Business and special assistant in corporate relations and development to the school’s president.

CIT in Talks to Hire Thain, Former No.2 Man at Goldman Sachs, as CEO, Says Sources

Reuters
January 12, 2010

CIT Group Inc (CIT.N), a commercial lender that recently emerged from bankruptcy, has talked to former Merrill Lynch & Co Inc Chief Executive John Thain about him taking the company's reins, according to two people familiar with the matter.

A deal to hire Thain could also include Nelson Chai, who worked with Thain at Merrill and also NYSE Euronext (NYX.N), one of the people said.

Thain would follow another former Merrill Lynch executive, Jeff Peek, who retires as CIT's CEO on Jan. 15.

The search for a replacement for Peek is progressing, a CIT spokesman said. He declined to comment on the report, citing a company policy not to comment on market rumor or speculation.

A spokesman for Thain also declined comment.

Thain was fired from Bank of America last January, a few weeks after the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank bought Merrill. He told Reuters in November he was looking for a job in private equity or with a public company. The MIT and Harvard-educated executive joined Merrill at the end of 2007 from the New York Stock Exchange. Before heading to the NYSE, Thain spent nearly a quarter century at Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), where he became No. 2.

COMEBACK

CIT is looking to reestablish itself as a lender to small and medium-sized businesses after a disastrous foray into subprime lending earlier this decade.

The lender filed one of the five largest bankruptcies in U.S. history on Nov. 1 after a debt exchange offer failed. One of the biggest financial sector victims of the credit crisis, in December CIT became the only major company in the sector to emerge from bankruptcy.

CIT is looking to move some of its best businesses, including vendor financing and factoring, to its bank, where it can fund them with deposits.

Any new chief executive will need to work hard and negotiate with regulators to put this plan into effect, one person familiar with the business said.

Separately, the company named three new directors on Tuesday, completing a planned reshuffle of its board.

CIT shares closed down 21 cents, less than 1 percent, at $33.55.