WASHINGTON - BANK of America said on Thursday it expects to cut up to 35,000 jobs over the next three years amid a sharp economic slowdown stemming from financial turmoil and its acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

'Bank of America expects to have a final plan early in 2009 and estimates it will project the reduction of approximately 30,000 to 35,000 positions over the next three years,' the Charlotte, North Carolina based bank said in a statement.

The largest US banking and financial firm by assets said that the job cuts would come from both within the bank and Merrill Lynch, whose acquisition won approval from shareholders of both firms last week.

It will affect all lines of business and staff units.

'Details as to specific reductions in communities or by business line have not been determined,' the bank said, assuring that those asked to leave would be compensated.

'As many reductions as possible will be made through attrition,' according to the statement. 'Severance and other benefits will be provided for those associates whose jobs are eliminated and who cannot be offered another position.'

Bank of America said that the reductions were designed to eliminate 'redundancies' resulting from the merger with Merrill Lynch and to reflect the current recessionary environment.

The layoffs is seen as one of the largest rounds of job cuts in the financial services industry.

US banking giant Citigroup said last month it was slashing a near-record 50,000 jobs worldwide as the company tightened its belt further to cope with a global financial crisis and heavy losses.

In a bid to underline its market strength despite the upcoming layoffs, Bank of America said it continued to conduct business actively with all client segments and to benefit from a flight to safety, attracting deposits and new client relationships.

In addition, it said, the company continued to actively originate loans through all of its credit product lines.

Bank of America, which serves clients in more than 150 countries, is a component of Wall Street's benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average index.

The bank's stock fell 10.67 per cent to end at 14.91 dollars at the close of trading on Thursday, when other major financial blue chips also dropped.

On finalising the acquisition of Merrill, Bank of America would bolster its position as the largest US banking and financial firm with assets of some 2.5 trillion dollars. -- AFP