Bank of America hopes it found a savoir in Gary Lynch, who will assume the newly-created position of Global Chief of Legal, Compliance, and Regulatory Relations.  For the uninitiated, Mr. Lynch is a former Enforcement Director at the SEC and Morgan Morgan Stanley's legal chief.  Gary Lynch's first order of business will be to resolve disputes with regulators over soured mortgages.  He will report directly to CEO Brian Moynihan.  

Mr. Moynihan, 51, is reshaping management as the company struggles to boost profit while dealing with lawsuits and investigations tied to soured loans from the housing boom.  In February, the firm named Terry Laughlin to oversee $1 trillion of assets in a new division he called a “bad bank.”  Last year, Mr. Moynihan moved more than 2,000 people from the lender's sales side to its servicing areas.

        Gary Lynch's CV.   Gary Lynch, 60, headed the SEC's enforcement division from 1985 to 1989 and led insider-trading investigations of Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken.  Former Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack hired Lynch to work at Credit Suisse First Boston in 2001 and then at Morgan Stanley when Mack moved there in 2005.  Mack is now chairman.

Lynch remained with Morgan Stanley as its chief legal officer from 2005 to 2010.  He's among at least 3 former SEC enforcement chiefs helping oversee legal departments at the largest global banks.  Deutsche Bank's General Counsel is Richard Walker, who left the SEC in 2001.  JPMorgan Chase appointed Stephen Cutler to be its top legal officer in 2006, one year after he left the government.

        Other Personnel Moves.   Chief Risk Officer Bruce Thompson, 46, will replace Charles Noski, 58, as Chief Financial Officer.  Mr. Noski, in turn, will become Vice Chairman.  He had been appointed CFO last year.   [Bloomberg, 4/15]