Oliver Quillia for cnbc.com
Bank of America branch, New York City.
Cutbacks were widely expected after a $1.46 billion trading loss led to a 93 percent decline in quarterly earnings from corporate and investment banking.
The trading loss limited overall profit to $3.7 billion, or 82 cents per share. Excluding items, profit was 84 cents per share, 22 cents below the average analyst forecast.
Gene Taylor, a 38-year veteran of Bank of America, will retire at year end as president of global corporate and investment banking, to be replaced by Brian Moynihan, now head of wealth and investment management, the bank said.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America also said it has launched a strategic review of corporate and investment banking to determine how the unit can operate better.
"While some of these changes are a direct result of our underperformance, others have been contemplated for a number of months," Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis said in a statement.