Mozilo unlikely to have mgmt role after deal closes

By Joseph A. Giannone and Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Countrywide Financial Corp Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo is unlikely to play any management role after Bank of America Corp completes its $4 billion purchase of the mortgage lending giant, Bank of America's chief executive said on Friday.

BofA Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis during an investor presentation Friday said he wants Mozilo to stay on board until the acquisition is completed, sometime during the third quarter.

After that, as Lewis put it delicately, the decision whether to remain will be up to Mozilo, who has more than five decades in the industry to his credit.

"I would want him to stay until the deal gets done, and then probably I would guess that he would then want to go have some fun," Lewis said.

Lewis said he will meet with Mozilo next week about his personal goals and discuss how the combined business will be managed. He stressed, though, that many of Countrywide's senior executives would be invited to stay on and have "big" operating roles at the bank.

Bank executives declined to say how much capital they will need to raise to meet regulatory requirements. BofA Chief Financial Officer Joe Price said only that the bank will need "a couple of billion dollars."

Lewis also told investors the takeover will not exceed the 10 percent national deposit cap established by U.S. bank regulators, because Countrywide's banking unit is chartered as a savings & loan.

The bank expects to announce these and other details about the Countrywide takeover and its financial impact when it reports fourth quarter results on Jan 22.

(Reporting by Joseph A. Giannone; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Derek Caney)