Dive Brief:

• Bank of New York Mellon has made interim CEO Todd Gibbons' promotion a permanent one, effective immediately, the bank said Monday in a press release.
• Gibbons had served as interim chief since Charlie Scharf left BNY Mellon’s top role in September to become CEO of Wells Fargo.
• Gibbons has worked at BNY Mellon since 1986. He served as the bank’s CFO from 2008 to 2017, according to the press release, and spent six years each as the bank’s chief risk policy officer and head of global treasury, according to his LinkedIn profile. Immediately before being named interim CEO, Gibbons was vice chairman and CEO of clearing, markets and client management for the bank.

Dive Insight:

Gibbons’ long tenure with the bank gives it stability at the top amid several challenges — most urgently, the coronavirus crisis. Declining interest rates and a shift from active to passive investing are also squeezing Bank of New York Mellon’s profits.

"The board conducted a comprehensive search process over a number of months, and we concluded he is the right person for the job," BNY Mellon board member Joseph Echevarria said in the release. "Todd is an accomplished and respected leader who is well known to all of our stakeholders, with a deep connection to the company and its client base. He has a tremendous understanding of what's needed to drive the company's success in the future, and we look forward to continuing to work with him."

Gibbons said he was "deeply honored" by the promotion. "We are the trusted stewards of our clients' businesses, and I look forward to working with the Board and leading our nearly 50,000 talented employees as we continue to evolve our great company," he said in the release.

Gibbons’ appointment received a vote of confidence from analysts at RBC Capital Markets.

"We view this announcement favorably as it takes the uncertainty of the CEO search off the table and, more importantly, it puts in place an executive who is very capable and experienced to run BK, in our view," RBC analyst Gerard Cassidy said in a note to clients Monday, according to Bloomberg. "We expect he will look to build upon strategies to make BK a better and even stronger custodial bank."

BNY Mellon is not the only systemically important financial institution this month to elevate an interim CEO. HSBC named Noel Quinn to its top role permanently on March 17.