As we reported last week, Bank of America has been cutting its equities sales and trading people in London. It transpires that it’s been cutting investment banking headcount globally, too. 

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Bank of America declined to comment on the claims. It’s understood that it went through a small cost-cutting exercise across the investment banking business, with no focus on particular sector teams. There are suggestions that jobs went in major teams like technology banking.

This is the second round of cuts made by Bank of America this year. Financial News reported that cuts were also made in January, when 10% of people in some teams were let go. 

The ongoing trimming comes as 2025 isn’t working out as planned for investment banking divisions. Although deals are picking up, with Prada, for example, buying Versace for $1.5bn, revenues remain lower than expected. In mid-February, deals in many key sectors were significantly down. 

Bank of America’s M&A bankers underperformed rivals at Citi and JPMorgan last year. Search firm Sheffield Haworth tracks senior comings and goings among senior US investment bankers and says that BofA lost 19 people, net last year.  

BofA’s popular head of trading Jim De Mare said last week that trading revenues are also down in the first quarter, after a record 2024. 

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