Bank of America commits to keep hiring (more slowly) in Paris
Bank of America continues to grow its Paris business.
CEO Brian Moynihan told Les Echos today that BofA's Paris headcount now stands at 600 people, up from 60 to 70 people in 2019. Most of Bank of America's 600 Paris employees work in markets and investment banking, but they still account for a comparatively small proportion of the European total. Moynihan said the bank has around 7,000 people in global corporate and investment banking in EMEA.
"We will continue to grow in Paris," Moynihan told Les Echos, adding that there will be "selective and strategic reinforcements" and that the French government had made Paris an appealing place to be located.
BofA chose Paris for, "the sophistication and quality of the regulator and the weight of the big French banks in markets activities," said Moynihan. "It's quite attractive."
Bank of America is pruning costs this year, both by cutting staff and by opting not to fill vacant positions when people leave the bank. It has, however, cut far fewer people than other banks, preferring to redeploy people internally instead. It's also been hiring selectively and added Driss Haj Khlifa from Morgan Stanley's Paris office in March.
More hires are probable, albeit at a much slower pace than during the past four years. Moynihan told Les Echos that BofA is just finishing the desk mapping exercise that the European Central Bank has demanded all banks undertake in an effort to understand whether their offices in the EU are adequately staffed. The Financial Times suggested today that the ECB's recent decision to fine Goldman Sachs for misstating its risk capital is likely to be used as a lever to oblige banks to relocate more senior traders and risk professionals to Paris.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, Whatsapp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com. Signal also available
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)
