State Street Names New CEO

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- State Street's(STT Quote) chief executive, Ronald Logue, will retire next March, handing the firm's helm to its current president and operating chief, Jay Hooley.

The succession plan, announced after Thursday's market close, comes as the firm -- one of the 19 considered "too big to fail" by the federal government -- faces a challenging set of issues, not the least of which is a slew of litigation and investigations coming from regulatory bodies, shareholders and, most recently, the California attorney general.

California has accused State Street of fraudulently overcharging the state's pension funds for foreign-exchange trades dating back to 2001. The firm has vigorously denied any wrongdoing.

State Street also issued a profit warning this week, even as it reported better-than-expected returns for the third quarter, saying it expects results to weaken through the first half of next year.

Hooley, 52, is a State Street lifer, having joined the bank in 1986. He led a number of State Street's units, including a series of joint ventures with DST Systems as well as the company's investment-servicing business. He became vice chairman in 2006 and COO in 2008.

Logue, 64, who took over as CEO in 2004, has spent almost the last 20 years at State Street, a lender of securities (to short sellers, among others) and a trading broker for large institutions. The company is, thus, something of a behind-the-scenes operator in the financial system at large.

Logue will officially step down as CEO on March 1, but will remain as chairman until Jan. 1, 2011.

-- Written by Scott Eden in New York

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