Not surprisingly, Bank of America recorded a third quarter net
income decline of 32 per cent due to the credit turmoil in the
American market. Profits went down to $3.70bn (£1.85bn) in the
third quarter of 2007 from $5.42bn (£2.7bn) for the same period in
2006.

The Global corporate and investment banking division’s net
income fell 93 per cent to $100m (£50m) and the capital markets and
advisory services division, which includes structured products,
posted a £717m (£360m) net loss. The structured products division
alone reported a net revenue loss of $527m (£260m).

As a result, Bank of America’s head of structured products,
Chris Hentemann, left the company three days ago.
George Ellison, head of the bank’s global structured-finance
division will assume Hentemann’s role, and will report to Tom White
who leads the bank’s global markets corporate and investment
banking unit.

Kenneth Lewis, chairman and chief executive officer said: “While
the significant dislocations in the capital markets have hurt most
participants, we are still very disappointed in our third quarter
performance. However, the majority of our businesses experienced
solid revenue growth as sales momentum continued, demonstrating the
value of our diverse business mix.”