BofA to gut investment unit: Report

CEO Ken Lewis lays out plans to restructure the bank's business banking division, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Bank of America will drastically reorganize its corporate investment division as it retreats to focus on its core competencies of big business banking, said CEO Ken Lewis in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

After laying off about 650 people, on top of the 500 layoffs announced in October, the bank's corporate and investment unit will be shrunk by about 12 percent both in terms of employees and scope, reported the Journal. Bank of America will also sell off its hedge fund lending division, and shut down parts of its trading and debt-based operations.

The new streamlined investment unit reportedly will be led by Brian Moynihan who currently heads Bank of America's Global Corporate & Investment Banking division.

According to the Journal, the restructuring, along with the purchase of Countrywide (CFC, Fortune 500), indicates Bank of America's (BAC, Fortune 500) commitment to U.S. consumer-level banking as its competitors look overseas. To top of page

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Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2012 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones IndexesSM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones IndexesSM © 2012 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2012. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.