BofA integrates its wealth management unit into Merrill

Bank of America Corp is folding its Premier Banking unit into Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, which will involve laying off several hundred workers, writes the Wall Street Journal.

The shift is aimed at better positioning BofA as a wealth manager for its customers with assets of $100,000 to $3 million, continued the paper, citing executives.

However, the changes are expected to affect Premier Banking client managers responsible for face-to-face dealings with customers, who will now become "banking specialists," with the firm's 18,000 financial advisers -- 16,000 of whom came from Merrill Lynch in the merger.