BofA cutting commercial banking jobs

Bank of America Corp. is cutting jobs in its commercial banking unit as part of the latest round of its wide-ranging efficiency initiative, Project New BAC, sources familiar with the situation told the Observer Tuesday.

The cuts, first reported by Reuters, involve the unit that makes loans to mid-sized companies around the country, occurring even as officials at the Charlotte-based bank have eyed growth in that business. It's not clear how many jobs are being eliminated overall or whether any of the cuts are occurring in Charlotte.

Sources told the Observer the cuts affected a small percentage of the commercial banking unit and were not concentrated in any one office.

Bank spokesman Jefferson George said in a statement Tuesday that Bank of America will continue to make strategic hires in growth areas.

"We regularly review our businesses to ensure we're best positioned to meet client needs and capture market opportunities as they develop," he said.

Bank of America, the nation's second-largest lender by assets, has been streamlining operations and selling off non-core assets as part of the Project New BAC cost-cutting initiative. Last year, the bank said it was eliminating 30,000 jobs over the next few years under the effort's first phase, which targeted consumer banking and other parts of the business.

The bank is expected to provide more details about the second phase of Project New BAC, which will include cutbacks in its commercial banking, investment banking, wealth management and other divisions, when it reports earnings July 18.

Bank of America's headcount was down by about 10,000 workers in the first quarter of 2012 from the same period the year before.