The Bank of New York Mellon announced Monday that former Visa Inc. chief Charles W. Scharf was appointed CEO of the New York-based bank, replacing Gerald Hassell, who will continue as executive chairman through the end of the year.
Mr. Scharf, 52, was CEO at Foster City, Calif., -based Visa from October 2012 to December 2016. Before joining Visa, he was managing director of JPMorgan Chase’s private investment arm, One Equity Partners, and before that CEO of Chase’s retail financial services sector.
“Today’s announcement is the culmination of the board of directors’ robust and long-term succession planning process,” Mr. Hassell, 65, said in a statement. “Charlie is an accomplished and distinguished leader, with a record of profitably growing businesses, driving innovation and managing complex, large-scale global financial services organizations.”
Mr. Scharf will assume the additional post of chairman on Jan. 1.
Mr. Hassell is a veteran of Bank of New York, which merged with Pittsburgh’s Mellon Financial in 2007. He was named CEO of the merged bank in 2011, replacing Robert Kelly, who was forced by the board to resign.
Mr. Hassell’s position appeared to be in trouble in 2014 amid mounting pressure in the investment community for BNY Mellon to improve its profit margins. In December that year, the bank gave a seat on its board to Trian Fund Management after the hedge fund — run by billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz — built up a 2.5 percent stake in the bank.
On Monday, BNY Mellon’s board praised Mr. Hassell’s leadership in “transforming BNY Mellon into a market-leading financial services firm” and successfully executing an improvement plan over the last three years.
Mr. Scharf stepped down at Visa after a four-year tenure at the electronic payments giant, saying he wanted to be closer to family on the East Coast.
“I have long admired BNY Mellon and believe there is great opportunity to build on the momentum Gerald and the team have created,” Mr. Scharf said in a statement Monday.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Scharf held executive positions at Bank One and Citigroup.
In a conference call with analysts, Mr. Hassell said he had told the board some time ago about his desire to retire.
“I’m absolutely convinced Charlie is the best person to lead our firm,” he said.
BNY Mellon has about 7,100 employees in the Pittsburgh region.
Patricia Sabatini: PSabatini@post-gazette.com; 412-263-3066.
First Published: July 17, 2017, 3:57 p.m.