Wells to replace Wachovia heads; BofA managers ousted
Charlotte Observer says the head of Bank of America Corp.'s Wilmington credit card arm, Bruce Hammonds, is among top executives losing their jobs as BofA prepares to absorb Merrill Lynch. Also, Wells Fargo is putting its own people in top Wachovia Bank jobs as they prepare to merge.
UPDATE: "Wells (Fargo & Co.) chief executive John Stumpf announced his team of 11 direct reports for the combined company. Only one, David Carroll, came from the Wachovia side... Laura Schulte, a 26-year Wells Fargo veteran, will head the combined bank's eastern region... Many of Wachovia's senior leaders, including the head of the general bank, the head of the investment bank, and the chief financial officer, have already said they will leave... Wachovia shareholders are to vote on the sale to Wells next Tuesday in Charlotte." Charlotte Observer story here.
EARLIER: Executives are among the 35,000 Bank of America plans to cut, reports the Charlotte Observer. "Many of the cuts came in areas outside the investment banking and brokerage operations related to the Merrill Lynch acquisition. Among those let go were Lance Drummond, head of e-commerce and ATMs; Mark Ricci, head of sales, service and execution in the consumer bank; David Onorato, head of litigation; and Chris Swecker, global security director for Bank of America and former FBI official.
"Some of the executives are just two rungs below Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis.... The bank last week disclosed that credit card executive Bruce Hammonds was retiring and that general counsel Tim Mayopoulos was leaving the company." Hammonds, based in Wilmington, Del., formerly headed MBNA Corp., that state's larget private employer, before BofA bought it three years ago and eliminated at least 3,000 of its 10,000 local jobs.
"Charlotte rival Wachovia is bracing for expected job cuts from its planned sale to San Francisco-based Wells Fargo. Wachovia has already disclosed that a number of high-level executives won't stay on with the combined company"
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