[Photo:  Association of Corporate Counsel]

Gary Lynch, a Vice Chair of Bank of America and a member of the executive management team, will retire in April.  

Gary joined the bank in April, 2011, as global chief of legal, compliance and regulatory relations, a new position created at BofA to deal with its on-going mortgage woes arising from its acquisition of Countrywide Financial, the subprime lender it acquired in 2008.

Gary has served as BofA Global General Counsel from September 2012 until January 2016, when former Ford GC David Leitch assumed that position. Gary has served as Vice Chair since July 2015.

Prior to joining Bank of America, Gary Lynch had a long and successful legal, regulatory and securities career. Here are the highlights:

• Graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Syracuse in 1972;
• Received JD degree from Duke Law in 1975.
• From 1985 to 1989, served as Chief of SEC Enforcement. In 1989, he negotiated a $650Mn settlement with Drexel Burnham Lambert which, at that time, was the largest fine under securities laws.
• In 1989, joined Davis Polk & Wardwell as a partner.
• In October 2001, joined Credit Suisse First Boston as Global General Counsel, and later became Vice Chair
• In October 2005, joined Morgan Stanley, where he served also served as Global General Counsel and Vice Chair.

One of Gary’s biggest achievements (?) occurred in 2014 when he arranged for Bank of America to pay $16.65 billion to settle federal and state charges against Bank of America and its former and current subsidiaries - including Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch – pertaining to toxic mortgage-backed securities. It was the largest civil settlement with a single entity in American history.