Let the Layoffs Begin

Bank of America isn’t wasting any time. Heads are rolling in London and the U.S., according to press reports. Top-level executives in currencies trading, investment-grade bond trading, metals trading, and the credit business have been escorted out of their respective buildings. With 3,000 positions to eliminate by the end of the year, there’s no time to waste. One of the departed is global head of media investment banking Stephen Ketchum; global telecommunications head Richard Swift is his stand-in for now. Seven other bankers in the media group said goodbye, along with some support staff, according to press reports. The London credit-strategy group has been folded—gone are managing director Raja Visweswaran and analysts Rishma X. Shah, Da Liu and Miqdad Asaria. Michael J. Meyer, managing director of investment-grade bond trading, has been replaced by New York-based veteran Masaya Okoshi. Principals Laurie Medivinsky and Donna St. Amant were asked to leave. Ian Harjette, who handled BofA’s capital markets for European financial institutions, also joined the exodus. And the precious and base metals trading desks have been disbanded. Chris Mandell, head of currencies and local markets, is gone. The bank’s rates and currencies units have been unified under Gerhard Seebacher. Brian Moynihan assumed leadership of corporate and investment banking last week amid reports that “only” 500 jobs would be lost in the global-markets and investment-banking sides of the business. So Moynihan may be more than a caretaker, after all.