Dive Brief:
- Bank of America has hired Johnbull Okpara, the chief accounting officer who left Citi last week, according to a memo seen Monday by Reuters and the Financial Times.
- Okpara will serve in the same CAO capacity at BofA as he did at Citi. He’ll replace Rudolf Bless, who has been with the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender since 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile.
- Bank of America did not detail Bless’ reason for leaving the bank but said he will aid in the transition of the CAO role and “share his plans for the future” in the coming months.
Dive Insight:
Citi, in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing announcing Okpara’s departure, said he was leaving “to pursue another opportunity.” As it turns out, that opportunity is at BofA.
He’ll join the bank in December, according to the memo from Bank of America CFO Alastair Borthwick, and work alongside Bless during a transition period that will last into next year.
Okpara will report to Borthwick, who called the new arrival a “seasoned veteran in our industry.”
Okpara joined Citi in 2020 after a four-year stint at Morgan Stanley. He also previously served as deputy controller at Capital One and spent nearly a decade at American Express, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Bless, meanwhile, leaves Bank of America after nearly a decade. He joined the Charlotte bank after a 12-year stint at Credit Suisse, where he served as CAO and deputy CFO, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Okpara is hardly the only executive to bounce between Citi and Bank of America. Citi last year hired away Andy Sieg, then president of BofA subsidiary Merrill Lynch, to serve as its wealth chief.
