The head of Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management’s Jacksonville office in Florida has quit the firm, and is in advanced talks with Wells Fargo Advisors on becoming its New York market area manager, according to media reports.

Thomas Isaacs, a 25-year Merrill Lynch veteran, resigned on Friday and is waiting to see whether he is required to carry out a 60-day notice period away from work: a clause in Merrill Lynch’s employment contract with branch managers, which the firm could choose to enforce, Reuters reports.

Merrill Lynch reportedly said Mr Isaacs’s replacement will be named shortly.

Meanwhile Mr Isaacs is reported to be in talks with Wells Fargo Advisors, a division of Wells Fargo & Co, to oversee the firm’s New York branches – a position which has been vacant since Rick Frick’s departure last December.