Monday's Charlie Rose Interview Repeated Tuesday Night, on Bloomberg TV.

[ by Melanie Gretchen ]

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, like Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, has no intention of ceding his throne anytime soon.  Unlike Mr. Blankfein who would depart to serve as U.S. Treasury secretary as his predecessors Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin did after their departure, Mr. Moynihan would prefer to retain his position at BofA for the rest of his life.

Despite record losses and public rebuke, Mr. Moynihan unabashedly lauded the role of BofA CEO to his interviewer, Charlie Rose.

"It’s the best job there is.  While there have been times when you sit there and say, ‘Jeez, this is a lot of pounding,’ you always keep your eye on the purpose you’re here. And that’s to help people with their financial lives -- if you really keep focused on that, I could do this the rest of my life."

Since taking over as CEO in 2010 from predecessor Ken Lewis, Mr. Moynihan, 53, has directed the bank to book over $40 billion in expenses just pertaining to the 2008 takeover of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial.  He's just about completed with his write-downs of CFC, and the total stands in excess of $60 billion in asset sales.  Thereafter, Moynihan plans to expand commercial lending, investment banking and mortgages.

Not withstanding the tremendous size of the write-downs, in the past year alone, BofA's share price has more than doubled, and the firm is on track to use its earnings to repurchase shares - so long as they continue to trade below book value.

It would seem the CEO still possesses that which first drew Mr. Lewis's attention to Mr. Moynihan, including the fact that he didn't have a huge ego.

"Another unique characteristic about him is that he wanted the job."

For further details, go to:  [Bloomberg, 3/27/13] and our Who's News story [The Blankfein Age, 2/13/13].

To contact Melanie Gretchen: melanie@compliance-insights.com.