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The crucial question that arose from this discussion was whether Bank of America might consider divesting Merrill Lynch. Maxfield inferred that given the current structure, particularly with the bank’s difficulties in generating the expected profit levels, extracting full value from the bank's various segments may become increasingly challenging.
Despite retaining valuable wealth management operations from Merrill Lynch, the ongoing Wall Street operations faced skepticism. If the profitability performance did not improve soon, continued pressure from investors could compel Bank of America to make strategic decisions regarding its future operations or even separate its investment banking activities from retail banking.