Merger fallout widens at Bank of America

Gail Snowden, the former FleetBoston Financial Corp. executive who helped expand the bank's presence in urban neighborhoods, plans to retire weeks after taking a job at Bank of America, the bank said yesterday.

Snowden was president of the Fleet's charitable foundation before the bank's merger with Bank of America. She recently had been appointed to be Bank of America's director of strategic alliances.

Snowden joins a handful of high-profile Fleet executives who have left the bank in recent weeks. Eugene M. McQuade, the bank's president, said this week that he would resign. Myles Gillespie, president of Fleet's specialist unit, and Ron Chamides, head of the bank's leasing unit, have also decided to leave, the bank said.

But Bank of America said exits are a natural part of mergers, adding that Snowden's retirement was a personal decision.

''Any time a valued employee leaves, it's a loss," said Anne Finucane, president for the Northeast. ''Nonetheless, we have some very high-powered, high-visibility Fleet people who have gone on to Bank of America."

Snowden could not be reached for comment last night.

''After almost four decades of helping to bring financial services to those in need, I'm excited by the opportunities that exist outside of banking to advance my family's century-long record of community advocacy," she said in a statement.

Snowden, who joined Bank of Boston in 1968, is known for her role in overseeing and expanding the community banking network at BankBoston and then at Fleet.

As head of the Community Investment Group at Fleet, she helped develop the bank's strategy for low- and moderate-income communities. But in her new job at Bank of America, Snowden had been assigned a more national role. She will leave the bank June 30.

Snowden's departure ''raises questions about how the new entity will address community and economic development, particularly in urban settings," said former City Councilor Bruce C. Bolling, the first African-American elected president of the Boston City Council. ''This is very disconcerting. It is going to raise a lot of concerns within the broader community."

Finucane said Snowden's departure will not change Bank of America's commitment to urban neighborhoods.

''Bank of America has made a commitment to strong community development, banking in our low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, and a strong program in affordable housing," she said.

Another community leader, Tom Callahan of the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, said his group would miss Snowden but that Bank of America can meet its commitments to minority and low-income neighborhoods without her.

''So far, so good, but the next year or two will really tell the complete picture," he said. ''Gail definitely will be missed in that."

Sasha Talcott can be reached at stalcott@globe.com.