But fear not - - a 'dark horse' candidate has emerged.

In early March, Merrill Lynch announced that Wealth Management boss Lyle LaMothe was retiring, and a new chief was expected to be named shortly afterwards - he's expected to step down 5/1.  Since then, not a peep.  In the meantime, the herd of 15,500 financial advisors is "headless."  And while Merrill has increased the ranks of its brokers, it nonetheless has been stung by some high level defections. 

According to CNBC's John Carney, Bank of America executives are at impasse:

• CEO Brian Moynihan reportedly favors John Thiel, a 22-year Merrill veteran who runs the ts high-net-worth business.  He started out as an accountant at KPMG before becoming financial adviser in Tampa, Florida, but left retail for private banking ofer 10 years ago.  His critics describe him as a “products guy” who lacks any charisma.

• Sallie Krawcheck, the global head of wealth management, prefers Andrew Seig.  He joined Merrill in 1992, and in 2005 was recruited to join Citigroup’s wealth management unit - at the time led by Krawcheck.  When Krawcheck came over to Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in 2009, she recruited Sieg to join her there. 

With negotiations apparently stalled, some executives are looking at outside candidates.

        A Dark Horse Emerges.   And one such outside candidate is Dan Sontag, a long-time Merrill Lynch veteran, who held Merrill's top US wealth management job in 2009, but he left shortly after the bank appointed Sallie Krawcheck as global head of wealth management - to whom he would have to report.  He learned that he had been passed over for the spot only moments before the bank publicly announced the Krawcheck hire. 

It’s not clear if Sontag would seriously consider moving back to Bank of America, but the fact that CEO Brian Moynihan is speaking to Sontag is viewed as a "huge insult to Krawcheck.  [Sontag] hates her."  Another Merrill veteran noted that BofA "treated [Sontag] brutally," and he can't imagine Sontag returning. 

However, Moynihan wasn't with BofA when the axe fell on Sontag, so Sontag might be receptive to returning - especially if it means a public humiliation for Ms. Krawcheck. 

The clock is ticking at BofA-ML.  [CNBC.com, 4/25]