Bank Of America Now Has Only One Number Two

Tom Montag will become the bank’s sole chief operating officer, the result of his partner Darren Darnell relocating to a vice chairman role in Tampa.

Bank of America

Tom Montag, who had been Bank of America's co-chief operating officer for three years, will now have the job all to himself, as David Darnell will become vice chairman and move from the bank's Charlotte headquarters to Tampa, Florida.

The move, announced in a memo first reported by Bloomberg, establishes the 57 year-old Montag, the former head of trading at Goldman Sachs, as a firm number two at the bank. Brian Moynihan holds the chief executive officer role.

Montag has been running the bank's corporate and institutional facing businesses as co-COO, including lending to large and middle-market companies, as well as investment banking and research, since 2011. Darnell had been responsible for its retail and mortgage banking as well as credit cards and wealth management.

In its most recent quarterly earnings, Bank of America had a litigation expense of $4 billion, dragging down their profits 43% from the year before. The bank is currently in negotiations with the Justice Department over its pre-financial crisis mortgage activities that could result in a $17 billion payout.

Montag has been richly rewarded in his split roll with Darnell, out-earning even Moynihan over the past three years. Montag earned $15.5 million in 2013, while Moynihan earned $14 million. The gap was even greater in 2012 and 2011, when Montag earned $14.4 million and $14.3 million, while Moynihan earned $8.3 and $8.1 million. Darnell's 2013 compensation was $10.4 million.

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