Bank of America -Merrill taps Asit Bhatia for India role

Asit Bhatia, a veteran banker at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, is rejoining the firm as managing director for corporate and investment banking in India, according to a memo obtained by Reuters, the latest in a string of high-level moves at the bank.                                           
 

Bhatia, who originally joined the bank as a management trainee in 1987, left in October 2009, when he headed the corporate coverage team for the bank in India.                                           
 

In March, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch tapped Kaku Nakhate to head its operations in the country. She had left a year earlier to join rival JPMorgan as its head of India equities business.                                           
 

Nakhate, who is bringing (with her two ex-JPMorgan bankers who are also veterans of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, will replace Kevan Watts, who plans to retire as country head later this year.