McCann Exits Merrill after Bank of America Takeover

The announcement of McCann’s departure comes days after Bank of America Corp. officially acquired Merrill Lynch January 1 (see “Merrill Lynch Stockholders Approve BoA Deal’). When the leadership of the combined firm was announced in October, McCann was named as head of the combined financial adviser organization (see “Bank of America Fills Out Leadership Team’).

John Thain, president of Bank of America’s global banking securities and wealth management division (and former Merrill chief executive), delivered the news about McCann via an internal memo, according to published reports (see “Thain to Head Wealth Management at Bank of America’).

McCann will be succeeded by Sontag, a deputy who oversees Merrill’s brokerage operations in the U.S. and Latin America, Bloomberg reported.

McCann helped craft a broker retention package unveiled in October, which was criticized by some for not rewarding lower-producing brokers (see “BoA, Merrill Retention Package Rewards Top Producers’).

McCann has been with the firm since 1982, briefly leaving in 2003, according to reports.