Bank Of America "Exploring Best Possible Ways To Comply With Volcker Rule"

Author:: Bess Levin
Updated:: Jan 14, 2019
Original:: Sep 29, 2010

Okay, here's what they've got so far, tell us what you think.

The idea they've come up with is: you're fired.

Bank of America is eliminating between 20 and 30 proprietary trading jobs to comply with Volcker rule limits on banks trading their own capital, according to a person briefed on the decision. The cuts, which represent fewer than one third of the bank’s proprietary trading jobs, follow a decision this week to stop trading some liquid instruments, said the person, who declined to be more specific..."We continue to explore the best possible ways to comply with the Volcker rule and this is one step in that direction,” said Jessica Oppenheim, a spokeswoman in New York for the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank.

Bank of America Said To Cut More Than 20 Prop Trading Jobs [Bloomberg]

The House of Moynihan has said goodbye to a bunch of employees down under. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has begun a new round of job cuts in Australia, a person familiar with the matter told Deal Journal Australia, becoming the latest investment bank to cut costs amid light deal flow and sluggish equity markets due to the stuttering global economic recovery. Fewer than 10 staff from the bank’s equities sales and trading division have been let go, the person said, without elaborating further. Bank of America Merrill Lynch Cuts Staff in Australia [Deal Journal]

Remember Project New BAC, i.e. Bank of America's plan to transform itself from Ken Lewis's house of fun, where everyone went home happy but the concept of making money was less of a focus than keeping the good times coming, to an institution that did things like post profits? The bank has said previously that PNBAC "will result in $8 billion in annual savings by 2015—$5 billion from the first phase and $3 billion from a second phase" and while it stands by those figures and remains committed to cutting as many employees as it takes, some people would like them to be a bit snappier about it. Bank of America is accelerating a broad cost-cutting plan and has set a target of shedding 16,000 jobs by year's end—cuts that would see the company relinquish its title as U.S. banking's largest employer. The proposed year-end total of 260,000 would be the lowest count since 2008 and likely give Bank of America a smaller workforce than JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, or Wells Fargo...Chief Executive Brian Moynihan is trying to speed the company's transformation into a smaller and more efficient operation as he tries to persuade investors that expenses can be adjusted to compensate for revenue lost to new regulations, an uneven economy and shaky markets. Since becoming CEO in 2010, he has shifted away from a nationwide expansion strategy embraced by his predecessors Hugh L. McColl Jr. and Kenneth D. Lewis, and shed many of the businesses that he considers to be nonessential...Hitting the new staffing target would fulfill a year early Mr. Moynihan's pledge to slash the bank's workforce by approximately 30,000. "If they want to make any headway toward improving profitability," said Sterne Agee & Leach Inc. senior banking analyst Todd Hagerman, "they need to accelerate the timeline." Bank Of America Ramps Up Job Cuts [WSJ]

The cuts are said to be going down in the U.S. circa now.

Brian Moynihan/Getty Images

The House of Moynihan is reportedly having some awkward conversations in the conference room today.

Cuts are said to have gone down at the House 'o Moynihan.