| NEWS ARCHIVES |
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| Former Merrill Lynch head honcho to helm CIT Group |
| 8 Feb 2010 |
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Ex-CEO of Merrill Lynch, John Thain, was named the new head of commercial lender, C-I-T Group.
The appointment ends a four-month search for a replacement, after CIT emerged from bankruptcy in December.
The 54-year-old Mr Thain becomes chairman and CEO of the firm with immediate effect.
The century-old lender had been led by Jeffrey Peek, another former Merrill Lynch executive, from July 2004 until January this year.
The job restores Mr Thain to the top of a public company more than a year after he was pushed out of Bank of America, which had bought over Merrill.
He inherits a company that was crippled by Mr Peek’s foray into subprime lending before the bankruptcy.
CIT still operates under constraints tied to a federal bailout and is shut out from the commercial paper market, its traditional source of funding.
At CIT, Mr Thain’s pay is subject to compensation restrictions imposed by the US government after a bailout of the firm.
He will reportedly receive 500 thousand US dollars in salary and 5.5 million US dollars worth of shares, of which 3 million US dollars is locked up for three years. |