John Thain, chairman and chief executive of Merrill Lynch, has been appointed to one of the top jobs in the group that will be created through his company’s merger with Bank of America.

Mr Thain will become president of global banking, securities and wealth management, following completion of the takeover. His responsibilities will include overseeing the combined group's corporate and investment banking operations globally as well as much of its wealth and investment management divisions.

Brian Moynihan, Bank of America’s president of global corporate and investment banking, will become president of private equity and global operations after the merger.

Mr Moynihan will also be responsible for ensuring the acquisition goes smoothly and will work on it with Tom Sanzone, chief administrative officer of Merrill Lynch.

Mr Thain previously worked for Goldman Sachs and was chief executive of NYSE Euronext before he joined Merrill Lynch in December 2007.

Bank of America agreed to buy Merrill Lynch for $50 billion (£28 billion) last month as the brokerage sought to bolster its finances following tens of billions of dollars of losses on subprime-related investments.

Shareholders of both companies are expected to vote on the deal this month.

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