Bank of America Corp. has tapped an insider to oversee the unit responsible for cleaning up the bank's mortgage mess.
Ron Sturzenegger succeeds Terry Laughlin, a longtime ally of BofA boss Brian Moynihan who recently moved to the role of chief risk officer. Mr. Sturzenegger, 51 years old, has been with the bank since 1998 and most recently was head of real estate, gaming and lodging corporate and investment banking for Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Mr. Sturzenegger will report directly to Mr. Moynihan in his new role.
His unit, known as "Legacy Asset Servicing," is charged with working through the bank's delinquent loans, handling oversight of foreclosure efforts and dealing with investor demands to repurchase bad mortgages.
The bank is under pressure to get a handle on the many headaches associated with its 2008 purchase of California lender Countrywide Financial Corp. BofA shares tumbled along with the rest of the financial sector Thursday, dropping 6% in midday trading to $7.
This story originally appeared on wsj.com.