Byrne joins the bank from the American Bankers Association where since December 2003 he has been Director of the ABA Center for Regulatory Compliance. He will report directly to Lucille Reymann, Global Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Operations and Compliance Executive for the bank.

"John brings to the bank 20 years of experience in regulatory and educational efforts on money laundering, asset forfeiture, computer security, privacy, fraud, terrorist financing and other compliance issues," said Reymann. "We are pleased to have someone with John's depth and breadth of knowledge and leadership join our team in this critically important role."

In his new role Byrne will help develop the bank's ongoing efforts to manage AML, both internally and externally. Externally, he will manage industry relationships, including partnering with groups to influence the development of AML regulations, and work with federal and state regulatory agencies and law enforcement on the development of effective AML regulations. Internally, he will assist with managing regulatory relationships and identify regulatory and legislative actions that impact the bank's AML risk management strategies to help keep Bank of America's policies on the leading edge of AML developments.

Byrne is a leading authority on anti-money laundering. He has been a member of the Treasury Department's Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group since its inception and co-chairs the American Bar Association/American Bankers Association Annual Money Laundering Enforcement Seminar (now in its 17th year). He also co-chairs the "SAR Activity Review" project, advises the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), staffs ABA's Fraud Prevention Oversight Council, Payment Systems Committee as well as the Compliance Executive Committee.

He has written extensively on money laundering and privacy issues and is a frequent contributor and advisor to Money Laundering Alert, Bankers Hotline, ABA Bank Compliance Magazine, and other banking publications. He has been a faculty member of the ABA's Graduate Compliance School, the Association's Bank Security School, speaks at dozens of conferences each year and has done several overseas money laundering deterrence programs for the US Customs Service and the State Department.

Byrne joined the ABA in 1983 as Compliance Manager and Senior Counsel and an Assistant General Counsel in the ABA's Office of the General Counsel. He received his undergraduate degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and his J.D. from George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia.

He will join the bank on September 19 and will be located in Washington, D.C.