Reuters

Wall Street banks have had a good first quarter as capital markets activity returned after a dismal 2011. In the past few days, rivals Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Citigroup Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co have all said they have benefited from the rebound in capital markets.

The chief operating officer of Guggenheim Investments and two other top executives were let go this week as part of a reorganization at the firm

Bank of America said net income was $653 million, or 3 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $2.05 billion, or 17 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

But despite the inflows and booming equity markets during the first quarter, revenue declined $33 million, or 1 percent, to $2.2 billion.

"This is not going to transform BlackRock in any way," CEO Laurence Fink said during a conference call with analysts on the company's first-quarter results. "This is not going to change our behavior, our relations with the sell side."

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has put its wealth management units outside the United States up for sale, three sources familiar with the situation said, hoping to bring in up to $3 billion for the sub-scale business.

Wealth management company Edelman Financial Group said Lee Equity Partners had offered to take the company private in a deal valued at about $258 million.

John Houlihan joined the wealth division of the London-based bank in late March after almost two decades at Morgan Stanley. In his new role, Houlihan will be responsible for managing all aspects of the firm's Atlanta office and will be in charge of growing business in the region.

While plenty of attention is paid to the hundreds of Merrill brokers who quit since BofA acquired the firm in 2008, recruiters expect similar numbers to leave out of roughly 1,000 Merrill brokers who had worked for Bank of America Investment Services.

Does a U.S. Supreme Court ruling based on the Anna Nicole Smith case prevent a bankruptcy court from resolving hundreds of lawsuits brought by the Madoff firm's trustee?

Facebook, preparing what would be Silicon Valley's largest IPO, has picked Nasdaq over the New York Stock Exchange for its listing.

George Gatch, who was chief executive of J.P. Morgan Asset Management's investment management division for the Americas, now heads the new global funds business.

As Morgan Stanley finishes integrating its brokerage joint venture with Citigroup Inc. and considers spending $10 billion to buy the whole business years ahead of plan, investors are anxiously awaiting signs that the long-promised profit machine will finally start to purr.

UBS AG named several executives to senior positions in the United States and Europe, in the latest move by the Swiss bank to rebuild its business after a massive trading scandal and departures by scores of bankers in recent years.

Two federal civil suits against UBS will explore whether clients can legally rely on their private bankers' assertions that there is no need to disclose the accounts on their tax returns or sign required disclosures.

PIMCO is getting a new ticker for its closely-watched Total Return Exchange Traded Fund: BOND.

Hedge fund managers are increasingly nervous about getting a knock on the door from U.S. securities regulators now that a new rule that requires them to register as investment advisors and provide lots of data about their inner workings takes effect Friday.

UBS AG's American wealth management arm has pulled firmly ahead in the race to attract top brokers, using aggressive recruiting tactics and rich signing bonuses.

Morgan Stanley is interested in buying all of Citigroup Inc.'s stake in their wealth management joint venture this year in what could be a roughly $10 billion deal, said people familiar with Morgan Stanley management's thinking.

The U.S. brokerage arm of UBS shook up its leadership ranks on Friday, removing a layer of management under CEO Robert McCann and giving private wealth management head Jason Chandler a bigger role.