Merrill Lynch Cutting Branch Support Staff

Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, a unit of Bank of America Corp. (BAC), plans to cut less than 10%, or under 1,000, support staff positions in its branch offices, according to people familiar with the situation.

The cuts, which will include some client associate and sales assistant positions, come as Merrill recently let go several hundred rookie brokers based both on performance and an effort to reduce costs.

The firm has also lost several key executives, including former Chief Executive John Thain; Robert McCann, former head of the wealth management unit; and Greg Fleming, former chief operating officer and the No. 2 executive at Merrill.

The firm has more than 8,000 support staff in its branches.