Bank of America to drop Merrill Lynch name and rebrand wealth unit as just ‘Merrill,’ WSJ says

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The Bank of America Merrill Lynch offices in the financial district, also known as the Square Mile, on January 24, 2017 in London, England.

Two of the most vaunted names in banking are fading into retirement.

Bank of America is expected to announce Monday that it will gradually retire the U.S. Trust brand to become the Bank of America Private Bank, according to people familiar with the change. The move is part of CEO Brian Moynihan’s “one-company” strategy to more closely align the bank’s various businesses and branding.

The company will also no longer use the Merrill Lynch brand for its investment banking, global markets and capital markets group.

Bank of America purchased U.S. Trust from Charles Schwab in 2006 for $3.3 billion, calling it “one of the largest and most respected” wealth management firms.

U. S. Trust, founded in 1853 in New York, is the first and oldest trust company in the United States and became synonymous with America’s moneyed elite. Its founders included Marshall Field, Erastus Corning and Joseph Lawrence, then Mayor of New York, while its early clients included Gilded Age tycoons such as William Waldorf Astor and Oliver Harriman.

In addition, Bank of America will dump the name Merrill Lynch from its investment bank and trading operations and keep just “Merrill” as the brand for its wealth management division.The rebranding was reported earlier by the WSJ.

In a press release Monday, the company said it had already begun a multiyear advertising campaign to highlight the changes. In November, it released a new corporate logo.

The Charlotte bank acquired Merrill Lynch a decade ago in the heat of the financial crisis. It used to be known by its brokers as “Mother Merrill.” But the name stuck with the firm even after the Bank of America merger where other storied Wall Street names, including Smith Barney and Bear Stearns, faded away.

The investment bank and trading business will now be called BofA Securities, while the units working with corporate clients will be called Bank of America.