Bank Of America’s Corporate Banking Lead To Depart

A top corporate banking executive at Bank of America (BoA) is slated to depart the institution, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports Thursday (Sept. 20). The head of BoA’s corporate and investment banking unit, Christian Meissner, is planning to leave, the WSJ reported, citing an internal memo.

The departure will conclude nearly seven years in the position for Meissner, who spearheaded a “reshaping” of corporate and investment banking operations following its merger with Merrill Lynch post-financial crisis. The unit handles the bank’s corporate lending, M&A advisory services and capital raising operations.

The bank’s current Asia-Pacific President Matthew Koder is slated to replace Meissner, according to reports.

In recent years, BoA’s corporate banking operations have been surpassed by industry rivals JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, according to Dealogic data. It has fallen from the number-two spot in the industry, which it held between 2010 and 2013.

Investment banking fees declined by 7 percent during the second quarter, according to BoA’s latest earnings report. At the time, Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said the unit’s M&A advisory services “knows they can do a better job and are after it.”

Bank of America has been beefing up its corporate financial services offerings in other areas as well. Earlier this year, the bank announced the launch of new features for its CashPro Mobile platform, adding biometrics and embedded token technology into its corporate mobile banking offering.

More recently, the bank also announced that its suite of commercial cards are now compatible with mobile wallets (including Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay), focusing on corporate travelers’ mobile payments needs.

“Cardholders will no longer have to search for their physical wallet for every business purchase,” said Hubert J.P. Jolly, Bank of America’s head of financing and channels in Global Transaction Banking, in a statement at the time. “The result should be faster transactions and greater peace of mind for the cardholder.”