UPDATE 2-WaMu strips CEO Killinger of chairman role
ju4 wa4i dia4n zo1ng he2 ba4o da4o :\n  (Adds stock price, Wachovia news)\nNEW YORK, June 2 (Reuters) - Washington Mutual <WM.N>, the\nlarge bank and home lender slammed by the mortgage slump, said\non Monday that it would strip Chief Executive Kerry Killinger\nof his title of chairman starting next month.\nThe Seattle-based savings & loan said independent director\nStephen Frank would become chairman of the board on July 1.\nKillinger, who has presided over WaMu amid a plunging stock\nprice and earnings, will remain CEO.\nFrank, 66, has been a director since 1997 and is the\nretired CEO of utility company Southern California Edison, a\nsubsidiary of Edison International <EIX.N>.\nWaMu said in April that it would consider splitting the CEO\nand chairman roles at a future board meeting. Angry\nstockholders have agitated for management changes at the bank,\nwhose shares have plunged 79 percent during the past year.\nThe board shake-up comes the same day Wachovia Corp <WB.N>\nsaid it had ousted Ken Thompson as CEO after a host of troubles\nand an ill-timed takeover of a big mortgage lender dragged down\nits earnings and its stock.\nLast month Wachovia, the fourth-largest U.S. bank, split\nits CEO and chairman roles. On Monday Lanty Smith, who replaced\nThompson as chairman, was named interim CEO.\nCharlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia said Thompson, who\nhad run the company since April 2000, was retiring at the\nrequest of its board.\nKillinger and Thompson join a growing list of banking\nchiefs whose careers were derailed by the global credit crisis\nthat began last summer. Citigroup Inc's <C.N> Charles Prince\nand Merrill Lynch & Co.'s <MER.N> Stanley O'Neal also were\nforced out by their boards.\nAlso on Monday, Washington Mutual revised its rules so that\ndirector nominees must receive a majority of votes cast in\nuncontested elections. It also changed the leadership of key\nboard committees and announced a search for new independent\ndirectors.\nShares of Washington Mutual fell 12 cents, or 1.3 percent,\nto $8.90 in morning New York Stock Exchange trade.\n(Reporting by Joseph A. Giannone; Editing by Derek Caney and\nLisa Von Ahn)\n((joseph.giannone@thomsonreuters.com; 1 646 223 6184; Reuters\nMessaging: joseph.giannone.reuters.com@reuters.com))\nKeywords: WASHINGTONMUTUAL/