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July 24, 2015 at 10:09 AM
Bank of America’s (BAC) upper echelons are going through a host of departures, while its wealth management group is undergoing a bit of reshuffling of its own tied to the exit of two individuals.
General counsel Gary Lynch is likely to depart from his current role over the next few months, the The Wall Street Journal reported early Friday. However, he is expected to remain with the bank, perhaps as an advisor.
This news comes less than three days after the bank said CFO Bruce Thompson had “decided to step down” after more than five years in that position. In addition, wealth management chief David Darnell recently announced plans “to retire by the fourth quarter,” after more than 35 years with the company; this news was shared with advisors on June 23 and with the public on July 16.
Bank of America has “a long history of management instability,” according to Rafferty Capital Markets analyst Dick Bove, in a report Thursday that was cited by the WSJ.
Global Wealth & Investment Management went through a dramatic shakeup in 2011, when BofA CEO Brian Moynihan pushed out Sallie Krawcheck. At the time, Darnell was widely quoted as saying that he was willing to “get out of the way” of existing managers, so they could lead performance-enhancing efforts affecting advisors.
Upon Darnell’s retirement in late 2015, Terry Laughlin will take over as head of the wealth group.
“Terry will be returning to businesses he knows well,” BofA said in an employee memo this week. “Terry’s impressive background includes various senior leadership positions with Bank of America and predecessor entities including Merrill Lynch, where he was chairman and chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch Bank & Trust. In his new role, Terry will retain his current responsibility for our U.K. card business.”
