Newly minted Washington Mutual Inc. chief executive Alan H. Fishman has hired Frank Baier to help him navigate the bank through the credit crisis, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Baier, who was previously the chief financial officer and chief administrative officer of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association in New York, will serve as special assistant to the chief executive and not as chief financial officer, a spokeswoman for the Seattle-based bank told the Journal.
On Monday, the firm announced that Mr. Fishman would take the reins from CEO Kerry Killinger, who stepped down after 18 years with the savings and loan (InvestmentNews), Sept 8.
Earlier in the decade, Mr. Fishman and Mr. Baier worked at Independence Community Bank Corp. of New York, where Mr. Fishman was the chief executive and Mr. Baier was the chief financial officer and executive vice president.
Most recently, both were associated with Meridian Capital Group LLC of New York, where Mr. Fishman was chairman and Mr. Baier was a consultant.
Mr. Fishman has had a tumultuous week. The company’s stock fell 32%, and earlier today, Bloomberg reported that WaMu may be forced to sell some of its 2,300 branches across the United States.
Shares of WaMu were up 12 cents, or 4%, in afternoon trading.
A call to the company was not returned.
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