Pershing 'unaffected' by BNY boss' departure

It has been a rough patch of late for Bank of New York Mellon Corp., which has been beset by legal challenges and an underperforming stock price. Last Wednesday, those problems came to a head as chairman and chief executive Robert P. Kelly resigned after a dispute with directors over the way he ran the company. It is difficult to tell what impact the loss will have on the Pershing LLC unit of BNY Mellon. The big clearing firm operates under its longtime leader, chairman Richard Brueckner, and a number of other Pershing veterans, including chief executive Brian Shea. A spokesman for BNY Mellon wasn't available to comment about Mr. Kelly's resignation. And several broker-dealers that clear through Pershing said that they were unaware of Mr. Kelly's resignation. But a Pershing source, who wasn't authorized to speak about the departure and who asked not to be identified, said that the change had nothing to do with company strategy. The source also said that Pershing's business wouldn't be affected. Pershing, the largest clearing firm in the United States, according to InvestmentNews data, had 836 broker-dealer correspondents as of June. The registered investment adviser custody unit, Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC, had 650 advisory clients with $93 billion in assets as of the second quarter. The unit has been led by chief executive Mark Tibergien since 2007. Through a spokesman, he and Mr. Shea declined to comment. Mr. Kelly, 57, had been at BNY Mellon since 2007. He was touted as a possible replacement for Kenneth Lewis at Bank of America Corp. in 2009 but indicated that he wasn't interested in the job. Mr. Kelly exited from BNY Mellon by “mutual agreement” with the board, the company said in a statement. His successor, Gerald L. Hassell, 59, has been president of BNY Mellon since 1998. Mr. Hassell joined Bank of New York as a management trainee in 1973 and has been on the board since 1998. This article was supplemented by reporting from Bloomberg News. Email Dan Jamieson at [email protected]