Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, brought back David Beker to replace Felipe Illanes as chief Latin America economist.

Beker returns to the bank after working at Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, where he managed emerging-market debt, Bank of America said in an e-mailed statement. He will be responsible for recommendations about economic growth, inflation, exchange rates and fixed income in Latin America, the bank said. Beker will be based in New York and report to Daniel Tenengauzer, head of global emerging-markets fixed-income research.

Beker left Bank of America after it bought Merrill Lynch & Co. for $24 billion in January to help it avoid becoming a casualty of the global credit crisis that pushed rival Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. into bankruptcy.

“When two financial institutions merge, there’s a lot of concern,” Tenengauzer said in an interview. “There was too much uncertainty. It was too early in the game for me to try to keep him. He got the offer literally two days after the official merge.”

Beker replaces Illanes, who joined the Rohatyn Group as a Latin America economist in September, Rohatyn spokesman Paul Caminiti said.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America has hired 41 analysts in the Americas and 43 globally this year, according to the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Veronica Espinosa in New York at vespinosa@bloomberg.net; JoAnne Norton at jnorton@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 12, 2009 13:07 EST