Merrill EMEA Chairman Departs Amid BoA Management Changes

Rachel Walsh

19 December 2008

City veteran Bob Wigley, the current Europe, Middle East and Africa chairman of Merrill Lynch, is to step down, after a brief handover period. Wealthbriefing has seen an internal memo dispatched on Thursday, in which Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain told staff Mr Wigley was leaving the firm to focus on the next stage of his career.

Meanwhile, Bank of America, which is in the process of buying Merrill, has unveiled a number of regional management heads.

Mr Wigley joined Merrill Lynch in 1996 to help spearhead the development of Merrill Lynch's European investment banking business, advising on many of the firm's largest European transactions. He became co-head of corporate broking in 2000, co-head of UK investment banking in 2001, global co-head of telecom and media investment banking in 2002 and chairman of EMEA corporate banking from 2003 before taking up his current position as EMEA chairman in December 2004.

Mr Wigley is also active in the UK banking community; he serves on the Court of Directors of the Bank of England, is deputy chairman of Business in the Community and is a non-executive director of LCH Clearnet and Euroclear, along with being a member of the senior practitioner committee of the UK regulator, the Financial Services Authority.

Mr Wigley is a member of the chairman’s committee of the London Investment Banking Association, a member of the panel on Takeovers and Mergers and the Chancellor Alistair Darling’s “wise men” group, representing key financial stakeholders in the capital. He recently chaired the London Mayor Boris Johnson's committee on London competitiveness.

The Daily Telegraph speculates that Mr Wigley will be in demand as a potential FTSE-100 chairman, and will also be courted by private equity firms and other asset managers. He was shortlisted for the chairmanship of Prudential, the insurance group earlier this year, before the job went to ex-Man Group director Harvey McGrath.

Last week, Bloomberg revealed Merrill Lynch’s head of Asia-Pacific operations, Jason Brand, is to resign.

Bank of America bought the investment bank on the September day that Lehman Brothers collapsed. The bank, which is in the process of integrating its recent acquisition, has said it plans to cut tens of thousands of jobs over the next three years.

Bank of America said its president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Asia, Jonathan Moulds, will take over as EMEA president at the merged bank, and be based in London. He will also have regional responsibility for Latin America and Canada.

Merrill's chief financial officer Nelson Chai will take over as president of the merged bank's Asia Pacific business, and be based in Hong Kong.

Earlier in December, US Trust, Bank of America Wealth Management, part of BoA, named its new head to replace the outgoing president. Keith Banks, president of Bank of America’s Global Wealth & Investment Management division, will assume day-to-day leadership of US Trust, effective immediately, taking over from Frances Aldrich Sevilla-Sacasa, US Trust president, who is leaving the firm.

When the Bank of America takeover of Merrill Lynch goes through on 30 December, Mr Banks will be head of Global Private Client, Institutional and Investment Management.