J.P. Morgan Chairman, CEO Announces Retirement Plans

One of the nation’s leading bankers, Dennis Weatherstone, on Thursday announced his retirement as chairman and chief executive of J.P. Morgan & Co. He is the second top Wall Street executive to give notice this week.

Weatherstone, a 63-year-old native of England, will step down after four years at the head of the nation’s fifth-largest banking company. He will be succeeded by the firm’s president on Jan. 1.

During Weatherstone’s tenure, which coincided with one of the industry’s most turbulent eras, Morgan sharpened its traditional focus on corporate and merchant banking. The firm does little business in credit cards and savings accounts. It remained one of the industry’s most stable and profitable banks at a time when rivals such as Citicorp suffered dramatic losses from commercial real estate lending.

The firm also shed its stodgy image by engaging in aggressive trading in Latin American bonds and in the profitable but controversial business of financial derivatives.

Unlike some other companies, Morgan has generally made considerable amounts of money from derivatives. These financial contracts are intended to help companies minimize risk in turbulent markets but are sometimes used speculatively.

Weatherstone and his deputies have recently mounted an aggressive defense of the booming derivatives business.

Weatherstone’s successor will be an American, Douglas A. (Sandy) Warner III, who has been president since 1990. The bank’s board on Wednesday elected Warner, 48, to take over as chairman, president and chief executive, the bank said in a statement.

Warner started at Morgan after graduating from Yale University in 1968. He served as general manager of Morgan’s London office in 1986, then returned to New York the next year to head the bank’s domestic corporate finance department.

Weatherstone started his career in London in 1946 with Guaranty Trust Co., a bank that later merged with Morgan.

Weatherstone’s retirement comes two days after the unexpected resignation of Stephen Friedman, chairman of Goldman, Sachs & Co., another powerful Wall Street firm. Friedman, 56, cited the job’s demanding schedule and a desire to spend more time with his family as reasons for his departure.

Bank analysts were not surprised by the news of Weatherstone’s departure and said they expect few changes in direction at Morgan.

Genentech, Inc. announced the promotions of Louis J. Lavigne Jr. to senior vice president and chief financial officer and Stephen Juelsgaard to vice president and general counsel.

Lavigne, who joined Genentech in 1982, will be is responsible for the South San Francisco-based biotechnology firm’s treasury, control, information systems, insurance, investor relations, tax, planning and purchasing functions. Most recently he was vice president and chief financial officer.

Before this appointment, Juelsgaard was vice president, corporate law.

Michael L. Walling has joined Los Angeles-based Western Bank as senior vice president. Walling was previously executive vice president and main loan office loan administrator with Santa Monica Bank.