Robert “Bob” Kelly has stepped down as chairman, CEO and director of BNY Mellon due to differences in approach to managing the company, according to a statement from the firm released Wednesday evening. He will be replaced by Gerald L. Hassell, president and board member of BNY Mellon since 1998.
“It has been an honor to serve BNY Mellon, its management team and its employees during the past four years,” Kelly was quoted as saying in the statement. “We have navigated tremendously difficult markets and built one of the world’s premier financial institutions. I am confident that under Gerald’s leadership of the firm’s strong management team, BNY Mellon will continue to flourish going forward.”
Kelly served as chairman, president and CEO of Mellon Financial Corporation until its merger with The Bank of New York, and was appointed to lead BNY Mellon upon completion of the merger in 2007. Prior to joining Mellon, he spent five years as CFO of Wachovia Corporation, and previously was vice chairman of Toronto-Dominion Bank, according to his biography on the BNY Mellon Web site.
“We are grateful to Bob Kelly for his leadership and the contributions he made to the company during his tenure as CEO,” said Wesley W. von Schack, lead director of BNY Mellon. “He played a key role in the integration of The Bank of New York and Mellon Financial following the merger and helped navigate the company through the financial crisis, securing its position as the world’s leading provider of investment management and investment services. Bob Kelly is a person of the highest integrity and we wish him the best in his future pursuits.”
Hassell, who has been a BNY Mellon executive since 1994, has had direct management responsibility for the company’s broad range of investment services businesses, including asset servicing and issuer, broker-dealer, treasury and clearing services. He also oversees client management across the company’s global businesses, as well as operations and technology.
“I am pleased to accept these new roles and am excited about the strong growth prospects for our company,” Hassell said in the statement. “When we help clients succeed, we drive value for our shareholders. I look forward to working with our outstanding management team and employees to capitalize on BNY Mellon’s extensive opportunities.”
Hassell holds an MBA in finance from the New York University Stern School of Business and a BA in economics from Duke University.
“Gerald is ideally positioned to guide BNY Mellon through the next phase of its growth and to bring it to its full potential,” Wesley W. von Schack, lead director of BNY Mellon, said in the statement. “Over the course of his more than three-decade tenure with BNY Mellon and its predecessor company, The Bank of New York, Gerald has led nearly every major division of the company, has been a key decision maker on every major business action, executive hire and promotion in the merged company, and has served on its board of directors. He brings a broad and deep knowledge of our operations, our clients, our industry and our culture to his new roles. As the executive currently overseeing our investment services business and our global client management function, and given his extensive and long-standing relationships with investment management clients, Gerald is exceptionally well-suited to ensure BNY Mellon maintains and strengthens its role as a global market leader.
(CG)