BofA Securities, Inc.,[1] previously Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), is an American multinational investment banking division under the auspices of Bank of America. It is not to be confused with Merrill, the stock brokerage and trading platform subsidiary of Bank of America.
It provides services in mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt capital markets, lending, trading, risk management, research, and liquidity and payments management. It was formed through the combination of the corporate and investment banking activities of Bank of America and Merrill Lynch & Co. following the acquisition of the latter by the former in January 2009.
Bank of America completed the acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co on January 1, 2009.[2] Bank of America began rebranding all of its corporate and investment banking activities under the Bank of America Merrill Lynch name in September 2009.[3]
Bank of America Merrill Lynch branding was used from 2009 to 2019
In April 2011, Bank of America Merrill Lynch integrated its corporate and investment banking operations into a single division.[4]
In October 2013, Bank of America Merrill Lynch was recognized as the Most Innovative Investment Bank of the Year[5]inThe Banker's Investment Banking Awards.[6]
In February 2019, Bank of America announced a rebrand of its investment banking division to "BofA Securities".[7]
Bank of America Merrill Lynch achieved the second-highest revenues of any investment bank worldwide in 2010, with a global market share of 6.8 per cent.[10] In that year it achieved the highest revenues of any investment bank worldwide in both leveraged loans and asset-backed securities.[10]
In 2011, Bank of America Merrill Lynch again achieved the second-highest revenues of any investment bank worldwide (after J.P. Morgan & Co.), with a global market share of 7.4 per cent.[11]
