KBW's Awkward CEO Deja Vu

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Being the CEO at investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods seems to have its own set of risks.

The bank's current CEO, 62-year-old John Duffy, has been sued for over $20 million by his estranged wife who says he has lavished millions of dollars' worth of cars, homes, jewelry and more on three women in three different countries, according to a report Monday in the New York Post.

The controversy comes just 11 years after Duffy replaced former KBW CEO James McDermott who was convicted of insider trading for leaking secrets about five pending bank mergers to his porn-star mistress. Kathryn Gannon and another man made a reported $80,000 off the tips.

Kathryn Gannon

McDermott spent five months in prison in 2000, pleading guilty to one charge of insider trading, according to published reports.

A robust figure, Duffy denies the current claims, saying the properties were investments and he was merely helping the women in Canada, the Dominican Republic and the U.S.

The New York Post reports one of the women involved is the tattooed, blond lead singer of a rock band. Duffy says he met the woman in a Manhattan bar and decided to bankroll her music career.

Duffy's 59-year-old wife, Kathy, has turned down a $20 million settlement. The couple lost one of their five children in 9/11 -- Christopher Duffy was one of 67 KBW workers who were killed in the attacks.