BofA names Koder Asia-Pacific president, memo says

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Matthew Koder will take over as president of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Asia-Pacific business, BofA announced in a memo obtained by Reuters on Friday, replacing the current regional president Brian Brille.

Brille will take up the new role of chairman for the region, while Koder will report to co-chief operating officer and head of the global banking and markets business, Tom Montag.

In his new role, Brille will focus on relationships with the firm's most important local and multinational clients in the region, according to the memo.

Koder, whose hiring was announced in March 2011, joined BofA from UBS AG and has overseen a major restructuring of the company's operations in Asia that focused on streamlining the corporate and investment banking division.

Koder is a fitness enthusiast and rare book collector who is known within the company for his drive and intensity. Sources at the firm said Koder moved quickly to shake up its Asia operations.

This meant trimming staff numbers, driving a harder work ethic and bringing on key lieutenants like equities banker James Fleming from his former employer UBS.

BofA has pruned the ranks of its senior investment bankers in the Asia-Pacific region this year, cutting 15 of its 75 Asia managing directors.

Among the departures was managing director Michael Cho, a veteran Merrill Lynch Asia M&A banker.

In his new role, Koder oversees BofA's entire Asia-Pacific business, rather than just the investment banking unit.

Brille became president of the bank's business in the region in 2009, and was at Bank of America before its acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

(Reporting by Alex Frew McMillan and Lawrence White; Editing by Chris Lewis and Paul Tait)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bofa-names-koder-asia-pacific-president-memo-says-035403441.html

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