BAML Drops Joint Leadership in Investment Banking Unit, Diego De Giorgi Becomes Sole Head

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) will phase out the joint management in the global investment banking division, with the current co-head Diego De Giorgi set to take up the sole leadership role.

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De Giorgi has been proposed by the firm to take on the post alone, as the joint head Karim Assef takes on a chairman role.

Diego’s appointment is effective from October, according to a memo seen by Reuters, the contents of which were confirmed by a London-based spokesman for Bank of America.

Earlier in April 2015, Bank of America Merrill Lynch promoted Diego De Giorgi and Karim Assef to co-heads of the newly created position of global investment banking in a bid to fuel the next phase of growth in the division.

With Assef based in New York and De Giorgi in London, the two men have contrasting career paths – Assef has been a mainstay at BAML since 1996 and his promotion comes after a lengthy stint at the second-largest U.S. bank by assets. De Giorgi has spent the bulk of his career at Goldman Sachs and only moved across to BAML in 2013 as co-head of corporate and investment banking for EMEA region.

Earlier this week Bank of America reported its best third quarter in five years and the first profit increase in three quarters.

And with an investment banking income of $1.46 billion in the last quarter, BAML affirms its ranks as one of the world’s largest investment banks. The bank significantly scaled up its investment bank in Europe and Asia in the past couple of months with several key hires.