The move follows the recent appointment of Cathy Bessant, former head of global corporate banking, as global technology and operations executive for Bank of America.
Mr Donofrio, based in London, continues to report to global banking and markets president Tom Montag. He will continue to work in close partnership with global corporate and investment banking executives Michael Rubinoff and Purna Saggurti, who will lead global investment banking.
Since joining Bank of America Merrill Lynch in 1999, Mr Donofrio has served as head of global healthcare, consumer and retail, and technology, media and telecom investment banking. He played a critical role during the merger of Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, leading for Bank of America the integration of the corporate and investment banking businesses.
In September 2009 he was named global corporate and investment banking executive responsible for leading investment banking globally and partnering closely with global corporate banking to deliver a fully integrated platform.
Prior to joining Bank of America Merrill Lynch, he was a senior member of the healthcare group of UBS where he focused on biotech, specialty pharma and large cap pharma companies. He also worked at Kidder, Peabody & Company in the healthcare, technology and debt restructuring groups.
Mr Montag said: “I’m confident that with Mr Donofrio at the helm, we will continue to build on our progress and realize the full potential of the Bank of America Merrill Lynch platform.”
Mr Donofrio said: “The opportunity to lead an international business that is so integral to deepening client relationships across the full spectrum of our investment, corporate and global markets products is incredibly exciting. We look forward to bringing the power of the organization to our clients.”
