Bank of America Merrill Lynch is rolling out a client referral programme for its global wealth management division, which includes Merrill Lynch and the bank’s former Banking & Investments division, with a combined 18,000 financial advisors, according to Registered Rep, a publication for the advisory sector in the

US.

BoA launched a pilot for the programme in three

US states in early March, and will put it on a national basis in the next 30 to 60 days. It is one of several referral schemes the bank is putting together as part of its integration with Merrill Lynch, including one that would offer leads from the commercial banking division to certain Merrill Lynch advisors.

So far, executives say BoA has passed on 500 leads for banking-only clients to financial advisors in

Florida and two other states, the report said.

In all, the bank has 15 million affluent clients it can theoretically pull referrals from, say executives, though it’s hard to say exactly how many of these clients will want to work one-on-one with an in-house financial advisor, the report said.

Some of these “affluent” have $100,000 to $250,000 in assets - clients the bank says would be best served by the firm’s call centre, called the “financial advisory center” and inherited from Merrill Lynch.