One of his decisions -- to get out of managing private- equity investments gained in the 2009 acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. -- has saved millions of dollars a year, he said.
Moynihan said he was following a blueprint for asset sales he gave to directors in 2009, as Bank of America directors were interviewing candidates to succeed Lewis, who resigned at the end of that year.
Bank of America is first examining cost-cutting opportunities in the consumer-banking operations assigned to Darnell, including deposits, mortgages and credit cards. The second stage of Project New BAC begins next month and addresses corporate and investment banking units managed by Montag.
Moynihan may disclose how much the company expects to trim expenses at a Sept. 12 conference held by Barclays Capital in New York or during Bank of America's next earnings conference call in October. Executives had set a preliminary goal of reducing expenses by 20 percent in consumer banking, two people with knowledge of the efforts said last month.