Moynihan Set to Take over Thain’s Post at BoA

Thain agreed to resign this morning after he met with Ken Lewis, BoA chairman and CEO, according to reports (see “Thain to Leave Bank of America’).

The BoA announcement said Moynihan has been general counsel of Bank of America and will occupy that role while the company searches for his replacement. Previous to the merger with Merrill Lynch, Moynihan ran Global Corporate and Investment Banking for Bank of America. Before that, he was President of Global Wealth and Investment Management at the company. Moynihan continues to report to Lewis and be a member of the company’s Management Executive Team, which sets strategy for the company.

The company also said that Tom Montag will continue to run Global Markets and will now report to Lewis (see “Bank of America Fills Out Leadership Team’). Montag will also become a member of the Management Executive Team.

Lewis said in a statement that the change in leadership in no way reflects a significant change in direction for the Global Banking or wealth management units. “Those organizations, which formed the heart of Merrill Lynch, will continue to serve their clients as world class financial service providers,” Lewis said. “We are quite happy with their performance since the merger.”

Moynihan joined Bank of America in 2004, following Bank of America’s merger with FleetBoston Financial. At Fleet, he led Brokerage & Wealth Management after leading Fleet’s Internet strategy. Before that, he directed the corporation’s strategic development for six years, overseeing all mergers and acquisitions, according to the release.