Bank of America expands ESG team with four hires

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Bank of America logo is pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

By Shankar Ramakrishnan

(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) is expanding its newly formed environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) advisory and financing solutions team with four new hires, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

The bank formed the team late last year to advise companies on incorporating ESG practices and on how they go about funding them. A spokesman for the bank declined to comment on the memo.

Alexandra Basirov is joining in September as managing director and head of EMEA Global Corporate & Investment Banking (GCIB) ESG Advisory and Financing Solutions. She will be based in London and joins from BNP Paribas (OTC:BNPQY) sa, where she was the global head of sustainable finance, financial institutions, according to the memo.

Emily Laochua is also joining the Bank of America team as managing director and head of Americas ESG Advisory from Credit Suisse Securities, where she was the head of their ESG ratings and investor advisory team. She will be based in New York.

Also joining is Suley Saleem as director and lead for Americas ESG Equity Capital Markets. Saleem is leaving Calvert Research and Management. He will also be based in New York.

Andrew Stinson will become the new managing director and head of Americas ESG Funding Solutions for BofA Securities and he will be based in Charlotte. Stinson was most recently a senior managing director in the firm's global corporate banking’s General Industrials group. 

The head of GCIB ESG Advisory annd Financing Solutions, Andrew Karp said in the memo that together with Natalie Mordi-Hillaert, who is head of EMEA ESG Capital Markets, Steven Nichols, head of Americas ESG Capital Markets, and Divya Bendre, lead for Americas ESG Fixed Income Capital Markets, the new hires will comprise his new global leadership team.