Rosenberg to Succeed Clausen as Chief at BankAmerica Corp.

SAN FRANCISCO —  Richard M. Rosenberg, considered one of the nation’s top retail bankers, was named Monday to succeed A. W. Clausen as chairman and chief executive of BankAmerica Corp.

Clausen, who in his second turn as chief of the giant banking firm led it through one of the most dramatic turnarounds in banking history, said he will retire after conducting the annual shareholders meeting on May 24.

The appointment of Rosenberg, 59, who as BankAmerica’s vice chairman also has been credited with contributing strongly to the comeback, was widely expected. On Monday he was named president in anticipation of taking the top posts in May.

BankAmerica also announced a realignment of some divisions and promotions of key executives, including one who had been viewed as a rival for the top spot. Analysts said those moves appeared to be designed to pave the way for future management transitions.

Clausen, who turns 67 on Feb. 17, will depart triumphantly from the San Francisco-based holding company and its giant banking subsidiary, Bank of America.

“The job I was called back to do, and which I came back to do, is done,” Clausen said in a statement. “The recovery has been accomplished.”

As a sign of that recovery, the company on Monday increased the dividend on its common stock to 25 cents a share from 15 cents, a move that had been widely expected after the firm reported record annual earnings of $1.1 billion in 1989. The dividend, which had been suspended during a period of heavy losses before Clausen’s return, was reinstated just a year ago, accomplishing one of Clausen’s prime goals.

Clausen joined Bank of America in 1949 and rose through the ranks to become chief executive in 1970, leaving in 1981 to head the World Bank. He was coaxed back to head BankAmerica in 1986 when it was suffering massive losses from ill-fated overseas loans and was under siege by rival First Interstate Bancorp in a hostile takeover bid. Clausen cut costs, slashed jobs and built a management team that successfully refocused the bank’s strategy.

After his retirement, Clausen will remain a director.

Banking industry analysts and colleagues praised his successor as a go-getter whose strengths are marketing and customer service. However, Rosenberg is not as experienced as Clausen in international banking issues.

“He’s a tiger, effervescent, fun and very quick,” said Richard P. Cooley, chairman and chief executive of Seafirst Corp., a Seattle-based subsidiary of BankAmerica. Cooley said if he really needs to find Rosenberg, he can usually locate him in his office at 6:30 a.m.

Cooley also noted that Rosenberg is “an exuberant tennis player.” Cooley, a frequent opponent on the courts, reserved comment on Rosenberg’s skill with a racket.

Clausen recruited the man who would succeed him in 1987 when Rosenberg was Cooley’s second in command at Seafirst.

Previously, Rosenberg had been a vice chairman and director of Wells Fargo Bank, where he worked for 22 years.

At Bank of America, Rosenberg formed its California Banking Group and spearheaded a profit resurgence in retail and commercial banking and real estate.

Those operations have become key elements in the firm’s evolution to a “California bank” from an institution focused more on international business, noted Dan B. Williams, an analyst with the Sutro & Co. brokerage firm in San Francisco.

A native of Massachusetts, Rosenberg received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Suffolk University in Boston. He then joined the Navy, serving as an officer in Korea and then in the early stages of the Vietnam War.

He went back to school in the 1960s, securing a master’s degree in business administration and a doctorate in law from San Francisco’s Golden Gate University.

In addition to naming Rosenberg president, BankAmerica also said it was naming three new members to its board of directors, increasing the number to 18. They are Lewis W. Coleman, vice chairman and head of the World Banking Group; Frank N. Newman, vice chairman and chief financial officer, and Glenhall E. Taylor Jr., vice chairman and head of credit policy. Newman, 47, had been viewed as Rosenberg’s chief competitor to succeed Clausen.

Donald Crowley, an industry analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in San Francisco, said the addition of the three to the board “brings major disciplines onto the board . . . and probably paves the way for transitions in future years.” He added that the announcement Monday did not signal that there is a clear heir apparent to Rosenberg.

The company also realigned divisions. The California Banking Group, the firm’s biggest and most profitable division, will be divided into two organizations, both reporting to Rosenberg.

Retail and consumer banking activities will become part of a new Consumer Banking Group to be headed by Thomas E. Peterson.

Commercial banking activities will be handled by a new group headed by Allen W. Sanborn. Both Peterson, previously executive vice president for retail banking, and Sanborn, executive vice president for commercial real estate, were promoted to vice chairmen.

James P. Miscoll, executive vice president and the company’s senior executive in Southern California, was also named vice chairman.