Susan Stevens, who ran Bank of America's loan syndications group in New York, has resigned to launch a similar operation for Wells Fargo & Co.
Ms. Stevens, a vice president at B of A, will rise to senior vice president at her new post in San Francisco.
Her hiring marks a strategic departure for Wells. In contrast to many big banks that sell a good deal of their corporate loans into the secondary market, Wells has followed a buy-and-hold policy. That has made it vulnerable to charges that its portfolio is riskily concentrated among a relatively small group of borrowers.
In recent months, vice chairman William Zuendt has been encouraging the bank to rethink its policy. His aim is twofold - to capture syndication fees and to reduce loan concentration. Ms. Stevens' hiring is evidence that this plan has moved off the drawing board.
The size of her staff at Wells and the scope of her group's operations is still being determined, sources said. Ms. Stevens will join Wells in August.
B of A, which also has a West Coast syndications group, has not yet selected a replacement for Ms. Stevens in New York.
