Bloomberg got a straight-up denial of a CNBC item claiming that Bank of America global wealth chief Sallie Krawcheck was on think ice as old-line BofA bankers moved to reign in the pay ladders at Krawcheck’s Merrill Lynch arm. No, but kinda.
Understand that Krawcheck is not of ML either — she was brought in last year as a retread hire by Ken Lewis to help clear the decks of native ML talent which could challenge his crown prince, Brian Moynihan. And precisely because Krawcheck has been seen as an instrument of the Boston mafia that includes Moynihan, Anne Finucane — and by extension — Rep. Barney Frank — she is not exactly popular in old-line ML circles, either.
Where this gets interesting is the upset that the financial services bill coming out of Congress is generating on the brokerage side of the operation compared the business-is-business vibe from old school banking and credit lines. Moynihan has clearly made his peace with the bill, but the screaming on down the trading and investing food chain remains quite loud. Guess who gets to hear all that? Sallie Krawcheck.
So because she is serving as such a buffer — magnet? — on such matters, Krawcheck remains valuable to Moynihan and BAC. Doesn’t mean there will not be a change there, I just doubt it will be anytime soon.
