Yet nothing could have prepared analysts and investors for Mr de Molina’s appointment in April as president of BofA’s global corporate and investment bank: everyone (including he himself) had thought he was more in line for a CFO role.
But he was one of CEO Ken Lewis’s trusted right-hand men, making him the right man for the right job at the right time. Speculation has it Mr Lewis also wanted to try him out running a business unit, a key experience if Mr de Molina is to make it to the top spot at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank.
Since then, Mr de Molina has been making waves at the scandal-tainted division, which had suffered from weak management and sometimes appeared rather rudderless. Analysts describe him as capable of combining discipline and a good hard look at the economics of the business with a fresh approach.
It’s now up to him to prove that BofA – whose consumer business still dwarfs anything else – is taking investment banking seriously. So far the signs have been positive: for example, the announcement in October that the bank would invest more than $600m to build out its investment banking platform. Acquisition of a major securities firm such as Merrill Lynch – which would put BofA in the Citigroup/JPMorgan Chase league and Mr de Molina at centre-stage – can’t be ruled out.
Risks: While there is consensus that Mr de Molina has done well so far, it is still early days. And while he is viewed as having a broad skill-set, a treasury background may not be ideal for the ‘vision thing’ he requires to really make his mark in the investment banking world.