Washington Mutual, one of America's biggest savings and loan providers, has ousted Kerry Killinger as chief executive, making him the latest casualty of the credit crunch, according to reports.

Mr Killinger's departure, after running the American mutual for 18 years, comes after it was forced to disclose losses of $19 billion (£10.7 billion) and seek a $7 billion capital injection led by TPG, the private equity group.

Its shares have lost about 85 per cent of their value in the past 12 months.

A board reshuffle brought in new blood that was not prepared to support him, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Mr Killinger will be succeeded by Alan Fishman, the chairman of Meridian Capital, the New York commercial mortgage broker, the paper said.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Killinger leaves with 1.2 million shares in Washington Mutual, worth about $5.2 million.

He is entitled to $14.9 million in deferred compensation plus a further $3.5 million in pension benefits, according to the filing.

People close to the situation told the Journal that Mr Killinger would not receive any additional payments.

Mr Fishman will collect a $10 million signing-on bonus and options to buy 5 million shares on top of his $1 million a year salary, it said.

According to the Journal, David Bonderman, the founder and managing director of TPG, joined the mutual's board at the time of the capital-raising.

He is said to have been a supporter of Mr Killinger but is also reported to be staying on, despite his departure.

Mr Killinger's departure comes after a string of Wall Street executives have fallen on their swords after suffering billions in credit writedowns.

The two chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the US home loan providers, are stepping down after the weekend's emergency bailout by the US Government.

The bosses of Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Wachovia are also among those to be forced out in recent months.

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