Jack Stack

When at the beginning of February Erste Bank of Austria announced that it had bought Ceska Sporitelna, the second largest bank in the Czech Republic, how many would have predicted that it had up its sleeve one of the best known and most respected figures in American retail banking to run it? Erste's chosen man is Jack Stack, who has worked for Chemical and its successor banks for 23 years, during which time he played key roles in the mergers between Chemical and Manufacturers Hanover and later between Chemical and Chase. No-one can tell this engaging fellow that he doesn't know an awful lot about retail banking. "He's a great thinker and a change maker," says his former colleague Vincent Pelliteri, a senior vice-president at Chase Manhattan Bank. "He's clearly one of the people who have made a difference to the US banking system."