The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that in late June, the three leading internal candidates to be the Bank of Nova Scotia's next chief executive officer made their final pitches to the bank's board. The Globe's James Bradshaw writes that hearing them out, as a director and co-chair of the bank's succession planning process, was Scott Thomson. Three months later, Mr. Thomson himself was announced as the bank's next CEO. The decision to pass over top managers from within the bank in favour of the 52-year-old who currently leads construction equipment dealer Finning capped a highly unusual succession saga. That late shift has raised awkward questions about the accelerated process that chose Mr. Thomson over the summer. Those included whether the board and outgoing CEO Brian Porter failed in their duty to identify and prepare suitable candidates from within the bank's management, or to land a leader with sufficient external banking experience. It has left an uncomfortable sense that the playing field may not have been level. Corporate governance expert Richard Powers, at Toronto's Rotman School of Management, said: "Could he use that as promoting himself as a potential candidate? The obvious answer is yes."