Bank of America plans huge job cuts

Bank of America Corp., the largest U.S. bank holding company, plans to cut 40,000 jobs, more than 10 percent of the workforce, executives say. The Washington Post, citing interviews with three executives who have been told about the development, said Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan is to announce the plan Monday at an investor conference. They said the biggest impact will be in consumer banking. "You're definitely going to see decreased service levels for consumers," Christopher Whalen, who follows the industry for Institutional Risk Analytics, told the Post. "They're talking about either closing branches or reducing the head count in the branches." While Bank of America is struggling with the slow U.S. economy, it is also still dealing with problems stemming from its takeover of Countrywide in 2008. Bank of America faces lawsuits, including a recent one filed by federal regulators, over allegations that Countrywide provided misleading information when selling its home loans. Bank of Americ, the largest bank in terms of assets, employs almost 300,000 people in the United States.