[ by Howard Haykin ] Following the strategy of big insurance companies, Minneapolis-based Ameriprise Financial Inc. (AMP) will change the status of its banking unit by year's end.  The process costs $20 million but it unshackles the parent firm from the burdens associated with being a savings and loan holding company.  Ameriprise, which operated as American Express Financial Advisers until  2005, when it was spun off by American Express Inc. Since the spin off, Ameriprise has been run by CEO Jim Cracchiolla.  Prior to the spin off, Mr. Cracchiolla served as Chairman and CEO of AEFA.  Under the change, the banking unit of Ameriprise will become a non-depository trust bank, subject to regulatory approval, and its clients will have banking access through 3rd-party providers. Ameriprise provides financial planning and annuities, and it joins some of the largest U.S. insurers in distancing themselves from deposit-gathering operations as federal regulators increase oversight.  MetLife Inc. is seeking to exit from banking and Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and Allstate Corp. have also retreated from the business. A “small number” of jobs will be affected by the move, Johnson said without elaborating.  The company is up about 1.2 percent this year.   [Bloomberg, 7/10/12].