Former Visa Head To Lead Bank Of New York Mellon

The Bank of New York Mellon announced Monday (July 17) that it named Charles W. Scharf, chief executive officer and a director of the company, effective immediately.

In a press release announcing the news, the company said Scharf, who was most recently CEO and director of Visa, will become chairman of the board of directors effective January 1, 2018. Gerald L. Hassell will continue to serve as chairman of the board through December 31, 2017, working closely with Scharf to ensure a seamless transition of responsibilities, the bank said in the release.

“Today’s announcement is the culmination of the Board of Directors’ robust and long-term succession-planning process. 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,” said Hassell.

Scharf was CEO and a director of Visa from October 2012 through December 2016 and was recognized for transforming the firm into a technology-driven digital commerce company. Before joining Visa, Scharf served as managing director of One Equity Partners, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s private investment arm, and previously served as the chief executive officer of retail financial services, one of JPMorgan Chase’s six lines of business.

“Under Charlie’s leadership, Visa transformed its technology platform by opening access to its network and capabilities, partnered with the world’s leading technology companies to drive new payment experiences, introduced new technologies to improve payment system security and built a world-class management team. Charlie is ideally suited to lead [Bank of New York] Mellon through the next phase of growth,” Hassell went on to say in the news release.

Scharf said in the same press release that there is a great opportunity to build upon the momentum at the bank. “We will continue to put our clients first, remain a strong and trusted partner and continue on our journey of defining ourselves as the premier technology platform our clients turn to for our capabilities, advice and leadership. We will work to continue to build the company for the long term while delivering in the short term,” he said.