BofA's former head of wealth, private bank Keith Banks to retire

By Lananh Nguyen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America executive Keith Banks, who ran several of its major businesses, will retire at the end of February after more than four decades in finance, the company said on Wednesday.

Banks currently serves as vice chair and chief investment officer for the lender's pension and benefits plan investments. In his 23-year tenure at BofA and its legacy companies, the executive led global wealth and investment management, as well as private banking.

As a regular commentator on economic trends and markets, Banks said he learned the most during periods of turmoil. Those included the 1987 stock market crash, when he was a newly promoted equity researcher, and the 2008 financial crisis, when he had "a front row seat" as a BofA executive.

"I always try to be a student of my own successes and failures, and try to raise the bar," Banks said.

(Reporting by Lananh Nguyen in New York)