BofA names Korean American Mike Joo as head of North America GCIB

Bank of America Corp. has appointed Korean American Mike Joo as its new head of North America global corporate and investment banking (GCIB), according to Reuters and investment banking sources on Tuesday.

The new responsibility will be in addition to his current post as managing director and chief operating officer at GCIB of Bank of America Securities Inc. He will report to GCIB President Matthew Koder.

Through the appointment, Joo has come to hold the highest position among Wall Street investment bankers of Korean descent.

BofA Securities, formerly Bank of America Merrill Lynch, is the corporate banking and investment banking division of BofA. It was created in 2009 when BofA acquired then-IB giant Merrill Lynch & Co.   

North America accounts for more than 80% of BofA Securities’ revenue. The securities giant headquarters has directly managed the region while having a regional head each in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.     

Born in South Korea, Joo immigrated with his family to the US at the age of 7. He studied molecular biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and started his career at Goldman Sachs in 1995.

In 1998, he executed the Korean government’s issuance of currency stabilization bonds worth $4 billion, signaling that the Korean economy could recover from the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis. Recognized for the huge transaction, he received an award from the then-finance minister of Korea.

Joo worked for Credit Suisse Group AG for eight years from 1998 and joined BofA Securities in 2006, where he became the head of debt capital markets for North Asia in 2009.

He will closely work with leaders across capital markets, corporate banking, investment banking and global transaction services, Koder said in a memo to BofA employees, according to Reuters.

Joo also serves as a leader of a Korean community in the US financial sector. He and Sandor Hau, a managing director at Charlesbank Capital Partners, co-founded the Korea Finance Society, a non-profit organization to promote Korean financial professionals’ careers on Wall Street.

The organization, which hosts fellowship programs for college students, financial experts lecture series, mentorship dinners and other programs, has supported more than 150 Korean young professionals to begin careers at investment banking giants such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and BofA.

As a recognized Korean American leader in the US, Joo also attended Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s inauguration ceremony in May.

Write to Jun-Ho Cha at chacha@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.