Wachovia ousts CEO Amidst Mortgage Crisis

At the request of board of directors, Kennedy Thompson is to step down as the CEO of Wachovia after eight years at the bank's helm.

The move was made following a 57 percent drop in the North Carolina based bank's share price also raised speculation the bank could become a takeover target. In a statement released to the press, the bank highlighted the need for new leadership.

"Wachovia announce today that its current chairman, Lanty Smith, has been appointed interim chief executive officer, succeeding Ken Thompson, who is retiring at the request of the board," the bank said.

The announcement of Thompson's departure from Wachovia unsettled Wall Street and contributed to a broad decline in financial stocks on Monday.

Thompson joins a growing list of top banking chiefs to lose their jobs since the global credit crisis began last summer, including Citigroup Inc's Charles Prince and Merrill Lynch & Co's Stanley O'Neal.