NEW YORK - BOB McCann, the head of the brokerage force at Merrill Lynch & Co , plans to leave the securities firm, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Mr McCann had led the wealth-management division, but saw his responsibilities narrowed slightly in a new lineup set last October when Bank of America Corp moved to acquire Merrill, the newspaper said in its online edition.

There was no immediate comment from Merrill Lynch.

Bank of America said a higher-ranking 'global wealth and investment management' job would be filled by another executive yet to be named, the Journal report said.

Mr McCann's departure was made public by Mr John Thain, Merrill's chief executive. Thain became president of Bank of America's global banking, securities and wealth-management division when the acquisition closed on Jan 1. -- THOMSON REUTERS