Bank of America reportedly plans layoff of its investment banking staff;  the news came out the same day the firm named 3 former colleagues of CEO Brian Moynihan to influential positions. 

    The Bad News.  The layoffs - as many as 400 employees, and expected to account for less than 5% of BofA's investment banking staff - will be announced to employees this week.   The move would be the first significant organized reduction in the division's workforce since BofA acquired Merrill Lynch in January 2009, during the financial crisis.  All units within the global banking and markets division, overseen by Tom Montag, will be affected.  Even with the layoffs, the division is expected to have more employees at year's end than it did at the end of 2009.  Last week, Mr. Moynihan said Montag's division had hired 800 new employees overseas, focusing on Asian and European markets that the bank is counting on for future revenue growth.  [CNBC, 9/20]

    The Good (Not So Bad?) News.  CEC Brian Moynihan, who has promised to change the lender’s culture while retaining most of its senior leadership, has installed 3 former colleagues at FleetBoston Financial Inc. at influential posts. 

• Terry Laughlin, former Fleet strategy head, is now a senior executive at the Countrywide unit. 
  
• Mike Lyons, a hedge-fund manager, is now a strategy and planning executive to help shrink the bank’s $2.2 trillion balance sheet.
  
• Lauren Mogensen was promoted to deputy general counsel and corporate secretary, where she intersects with Moynihan and the bank’s board.