Dive Brief:

• BNP Paribas shareholders on Tuesday resoundingly backed increasing the age limit for the bank’s chief executive, from 65 to 68.
• The move would extend the runway for 63-year-old CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, who’s been at the helm of the French bank since 2011. At the bank’s annual general meeting, shareholders also voted to give Bonnafé another three-year term leading the lender.
• BNP investors voted, too, to raise the age limit for the board chair, from 75 to 78, enabling current chair Jean Lemierre, 74, to remain in his role for a few more years. He’s been in the chair seat since 2014.

Dive Insight:

Shareholders overwhelmingly backed upping the mandatory retirement age, with 98% voting in favor, Reuters reported. The board can raise the age limit by one more year, setting Bonnafé up to potentially remain the bank’s CEO until its 2031 annual meeting.

Bonnafé has been at the bank since 1993. Raising the age limit for the CEO role tees him up to be one of the longest-tenured CEOs of a European bank, since Societe Generale and Credit Agricole each replaced their CEOs in recent years, Bloomberg noted. It would also set Bonnafé on a similar timeframe leading the bank as Jamie Dimon has had at the helm of JPMorgan Chase, where he’s been CEO since 2006.  

BNP’s shareholders also voted to increase Bonnafé’s fixed annual pay by about 25%, to €2.3 million.

“The Board of directors believes that Mr. Jean‑Laurent Bonnafé has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the Bank’s development for more than thirty‑one years. His technical and managerial skills, his ability to anticipate changes in the banking industry and to take them into account when implementing BNP Paribas’ strategy enable him to continue to serve as a director on the Bank’s Board of directors,” the bank said in its proxy filing.

Increasing age limits for the roles “would make it possible to maintain the strength and cohesion of BNP Paribas’ governance and management during the ramp‑up phase of the succession,” the bank said in its proxy filing. 

Succession is an issue BNP has faced some criticism over, and the bank lacks obvious candidates to replace Bonnafé, Reuters has reported. His two chief operating officers, Yann Gérardin and Thierry Laborde, are 63 and 64, respectively, according to Bloomberg.

Generally, banks’ CEO succession plans are lacking, leadership advisory firm Russell Reynolds said in a November analysis. Among U.S. banks, there’s a “potential looming retirement cliff.” Current bank CEOs’ average age is about 58, and nearly one-quarter of bank C-suiters are 65 or older, suggesting banks “may soon be encountering a leadership vacuum,” Russell Reynolds said. 

At JPMorgan, who will succeed 69-year-old Dimon is closely watched, and the bank’s investor day Monday is in part an opportunity to showcase the bank’s talent bench. Last year, Dimon deviated from his standard response that retirement is five years away, saying the timetable “isn’t five years anymore.” Succession planning at JPMorgan is well underway, he said. 

January saw a C-suite reshuffling at the bank, when it announced Chief Operating Officer Daniel Pinto would step back, and Jennifer Piepszak, who had been co-CEO of the commercial and investment bank, would fill the COO role. Piepszak was thought to be a contender to replace Dimon, but indicated she’d rather work in a senior operating role than be considered to succeed him, a bank spokesperson said. 

At other top U.S. banks, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan is 65, Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf is 60, and Citi CEO Jane Fraser is 57, according to the banks’ latest proxy filings. U.S. Bank in April installed Gunjan Kedia, 54, as its new CEO, replacing Andy Cecere, 64, who’s been at the bank nearly 40 years; he moved into an executive chairman role.