Bank of America to axe 3,500 jobs

Bank of America will cut 3,500 jobs this quarter as part of a wider restructuring that could lead to the loss of thousands more jobs, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The 3,500 jobs to be slashed will come from all sections of the country's biggest bank by assets, and are to be eliminated by the end of September, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation. Some of the employees to be laid off have already been told, it said. Thousands of additional job cuts could come as part of the major restructuring known as "Project New BAC," referring to the ticker symbol of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank. The number of cuts is still under discussion, but one source told the Journal that at least 10,000 jobs, or 3.5 percent of the bank's work force, could be eliminated. A final decision is expected early next month. Last week, the bank's chief executive Brian Moynihan said it was in a better position now than during the financial crisis, as he tried to reassure investors worried about the growing number of lawsuits facing the bank. Bank of America shares are down 47 percent so far this year, the paper said. "The fundamentals are so much better in our country and in our company and in our industry than they were four years ago," Moynihan said in a conference call with analysts. The job cuts will include hundreds of positions in Bank of America's investment banking and trading unit, the Journal reported. Some job eliminations could come through attrition or hiring slowdowns and put in place over a three-year period, it added. Several large banks have recently announced major staff cuts, with HSBC slashing 30,000 jobs by 2013 and Britain's bailed-out Lloyds bank eliminating 15,000 positions by 2014.