Brian Moynihan: BofA Execs Might As Well Have The Phrase "Always Be Firing" Tattooed To Their Faces

In case anyone needs a refresher on the bank's slogan. In related news, probably wise for existing Bank of America Merrill Lynch employees to gird their loins.

Brian Moynihan: We're down -- headcount continues to work its way down in our company. That's the expense mantra that we all talk about. But the reality is in a -- this quarter, we hired over 1,000 new students, new kids in from school. We added 1, 000 client-facing people. And we still were able to manage through hard (INAUDIBLE) work 1,500 net people out of the company. Bloomberg: You have been able to reduce expenses, to the point you just made, in part by reducing headcount dramatically over the space of the past five years. Yet, if I compare Bank of America to some of the other banks in your industry, the comparison could still be more favorable. Wells Fargo has an efficiency ratio, non-interest expenses as a percentage of revenue in the order of 57 percent. You guys are north of 60. Why can't yours be 57 percent? Moynihan: We're going to have -- there's going to be differences in business mixes, but ours should be better. Bloomberg: Better than it is today. Moynihan: Better than it is today. And that's going to come.

Bank of America CEO Moynihan Says Headcount Will Come Down [Bloomberg]