Asit Bhatia rejoins BoA Merrill in India

Asit Bhatia has rejoined Bank of America Merrill Lynch as a managing director for corporate and investment banking in India. Bhatia has spent most of his working career with the bank, having joined in 1987 as a management trainee, but left in October 2009 to pursue a career outside the firm. Bhatia held a number of roles during his more than two-decade-long career with the bank and when he left he was head of the corporate coverage team for Bank of America.

Bhatia's new role is Mumbai-based. He will report to Jayanti Bajpai, co-head of Asia-Pacific corporate and investment banking, as well as to the newly appointed country head and to the head of corporate banking coverage for Asia-Pacific.

Currently Kevan Watts is country head for India, but BoA Merrill recently lured Kaku Nakhate back from J.P. Morgan, where she defected last year, to take on the role of country head when Watts retires later this year. Nakhate is currently on gardening leave. Charles Alexander, who BoA Merrill poached from Standard Chartered in March to head corporate banking coverage for Asia-Pacific, is also currently on gardening leave.

Bhatia will be responsible for the coverage of select clients across India. He will work closely with the investment banking, global markets and corporate banking teams to ensure broad client coverage of the bank's platform in the country, according to an internal memo seen by FinanceAsia.