Jerry Blanchard, an attorney and partner at Powell Goldstein LLP and former local Bank of America in-house counsel, said Jones has a tightrope to walk as market president.

A Bank of America market president, he said, has to coordinate employees along disparate businesses, like commercial banking and stock brokerage, while those employees don't necessarily report to the market president.

"When it works, it's an earnings machine unlike anything you've ever seen before," Blanchard said. "But it's tough to get everyone on the same page in that structure.