Bank of America, the second-biggest US lender, signalled it could dramatically scale back its investment banking division after shocking the markets on Thursday with a 32 per cent drop in third-quarter earnings.

Announcing a review of every business that contributed to the dismal performance, Ken Lewis, BofA chief executive, said: “What I can’t say is that we will stay the course and go forward as we have in the past. The probability of changes and elimination of some businesses...is very high.”