NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> said David Sambol, the Countrywide Financial Corp <CFC.N> chief operating officer previously slated to run the companies' combined mortgage operations, will instead retire.

The second largest U.S. bank had received criticism for hiring the COO of struggling mortgage lender Countrywide.

Sambol was identified in January as the expected head of mortgage operations, soon after Bank of America agreed to buy Countrywide for $4 billion.

Bank of America has said it expects the merger to close in the third quarter.

In March, the bank had said it had agreed to pay Sambol $28 million.

(Reporting by Dan Wilchins, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)