Bank of America happy with headcount for now

(Reuters) -Bank of America is satisfied with its headcount for now, Chief Financial Officer Alastair Borthwick told journalists in a conference call on Monday.

The company added about 5,000 employees in the third quarter, Borthwick said after the company reported a 9% drop in third-quarter profit on Monday.

It hired specialists and salespeople in its consumer division, while also recruiting several hundred employees in its Merrill Lynch unit, alongside separate staff for risk and control functions.

When asked if the company would cut staff in its investment banking arm, Borthwick said, “No — at this stage, we’ve been very purposeful in terms of building out our investment-banking coverage and footprint in the U.S. and overseas.”

(Reporting by Lananh Nguyen in New York and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama Editing by David Goodman)