Bank of America: Difference between revisions
Bofajeff420 (talk | contribs) m when ur namea jeff |
m Reverted edits by Bofajeff420 (talk) (HG) (3.3.5) |
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| logo = Bank of America logo.svg |
| logo = Bank of America logo.svg |
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| logo_size = 250px |
| logo_size = 250px |
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| image = Bank of America Corporate Center.jpg |
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| image = 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| image_caption = Bank of America headquarters in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]], U.S. |
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| type = [[Public company|Public]] |
| type = [[Public company|Public]] |
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| traded_as = {{unbulleted list |
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'''Bank of America Corporation''' (abbreviated as '''BofA''')<ref>This is from the bank's own [https://twitter.com/BofA_Help?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Twitter page]: "Connect with us, the official BofA Twitter reps." Retrieved 9 Dec. 2017.</ref> is an American multinational [[financial services]] company headquartered in [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]], North Carolina. It is ranked 2nd on the [[list of largest banks in the United States]] by assets.<ref>[http://www.relbanks.com/top-us-banks/assets Largest Banks in the United States]</ref> As of 2016, Bank of America was the 26th largest company in the United States by total revenue. In 2016, it was ranked #11 on the [[Forbes Magazine]] [[Forbes Global 2000|Global 2000]] list of largest companies in the world.<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/companies/bank-of-america/ Forbes – The World’s Biggest Public Companies 2016 RANKING: Bank of America]</ref> |
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BOFA JEFF!!!!! also go follow realbofadeez on twitter |
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Its acquisition of [[Merrill Lynch]] in 2008 solidified it as a "[[Bulge bracket|Bulge Bracket Bank]]", becoming the world's largest [[wealth management]] corporation and a major player in the [[investment banking]] market.<ref name="ATLoffer">Cohan, William D. (September 2009), "An offer he couldn't refuse", ''[[The Atlantic]]''</ref> As of December 31, 2017, it had [[United States dollar|US$]]1.081 trillion in [[assets under management]] (AUM).<ref name="10K" /> |
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As of December 31, 2016, the company held 10.73% of all bank deposits in the United States.<ref>{{cite news| title=Bank Market Share by Deposits and Assets| url=https://wallethub.com/edu/bank-market-share-by-deposits/25587/| first=Alina| last=Comoreanu| work=[[WalletHub]]| date=February 9, 2017}}</ref> It is one of the [[Big Four (banking)#United States|Big Four banks in the United States]], along with [[Citigroup]], [[JPMorgan Chase]] and [[Wells Fargo]]—its main competitors.<ref name="USATodayb4">{{cite news | url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/earnings/2008-10-16-citigroup_N.htm|title=Citigroup posts 4th straight loss; Merrill loss widens| date=October 16, 2008| agency=Associated Press| accessdate=December 17, 2009| work=USA Today}}</ref><ref name="NYTimesb4">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/business/23discount.html| title=4 Major Banks Tap Fed for Financing| last=Dash| first=Eric| date=August 23, 2007| work=[[The New York Times]]| accessdate=December 17, 2009}}</ref> Bank of America operates—but does not necessarily maintain retail branches<ref>B of A has operations (for example, Merrill Lynch offices), but no retail branches in Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, or Wyoming. ''[http://locators.bankofamerica.com/locator/locator/LocatorAction.do Bank of America Branches and ATMs] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701090023/http://locators.bankofamerica.com/locator/locator/LocatorAction.do |date=July 1, 2014 }}.'' Click "Browse locations by state." © 2014 Bank of America Corporation. Retrieved June 30, 2014.</ref>—in all 50 states of the United States, the [[District of Columbia]] and more than 40 other countries. It has a retail banking footprint that serves approximately 46 million consumer and small business relationships at 4,600 banking centers and 15,900 [[automated teller machine]]s (ATMs). |
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Bank of America provides its products and services through 4,600 retail financial centers, approximately 15,900 [[automated teller machine]]s,<ref name="10K" /> call centers, and online and mobile banking platforms. The bank's Consumer Real Estate Services segment offers consumer real estate products comprising both fixed and adjustable-rate first-lien mortgage loans for home purchase and refinancing needs, home equity lines of credit, and home equity loans.<ref name="Bank of America Corp">{{cite web| title=Bank Of America Corp| newspaper=Intelligent Investor| url=https://www.intelligentinvestor.com.au/shares/company/bank-of-america-corp-BAC.NYS-1041350| accessdate=May 1, 2015}} |
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</ref> |
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Bank of America has been the subject of many lawsuits and investigations regarding both mortgages and financial disclosures dating back to the [[Financial crisis of 2007–08|financial crisis]], including a record settlement of $16.65 billion on August 21, 2014.<ref>{{cite press release| url=http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/bank-america-pay-1665-billion-historic-justice-department-settlement-financial-fraud-leading| title=Bank of America to Pay $16.65 Billion in Historic Justice Department Settlement for Financial Fraud Leading up to and During the Financial Crisis| publisher=[[U.S. Department of Justice]]| date=August 21, 2014}}</ref> |
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==History== |
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===Bank of Italy=== |
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{{Main|Bank of Italy (United States)}} |
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The history of Bank of America dates back to October 17, 1904,<ref name="Bank of America">{{cite web| url=http://www.nndb.com/company/607/000053448/| title=Bank of America| publisher=''[[NNDB]]''| accessdate=March 23, 2015}}</ref> when Amadeo Pietro Giannini founded the [[Bank of Italy (United States)|Bank of Italy]] in San Francisco. The Bank of Italy served the needs of many immigrants settling in the United States at that time, providing services denied to them by the existing American banks which typically discriminated against them and often denied service to all but the wealthiest.<ref name="PBSGiannini">{{cite web| url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/giannini_hi.html| title=Who Made America? – Innovators – A.P. Giannini| publisher=[[PBS.org]]| accessdate=December 17, 2009| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107040948/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/giannini_hi.html| archivedate=January 7, 2010 |deadurl= no}}</ref><!--The Italian Bank of Italy was created in 1893 through the merger of 3 of the 6 banks at the time: Banca Nazionale nel Regno d'Italia and 2 Tuscan banks.--> Giannini was raised by his mother and stepfather Lorenzo Scatena, as his father was fatally shot over a pay dispute with an employee.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/984/Americas-BlueCollar-Banker-The-Early-Years-of-Amadeo-Peter-AP-Giannini.html |title= Amadeo Peter Giannini |publisher= Famous Entrepreneurs by Evan Carmichael |accessdate= August 25, 2014}}</ref> When the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake]] struck, Giannini was able to save all deposits out of the bank building and away from the fires. Because San Francisco's banks were in smoldering ruins and unable to open their vaults, Giannini was able to use the rescued funds to commence lending within a few days of the disaster. From a makeshift desk consisting of a few planks over two barrels, he lent money to those who wished to rebuild.<ref>[http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2002931392_calquake15.html Nation & World: Ripples from 1906 San Francisco quake felt even today] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192704/http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2002931392_calquake15.html |date=October 29, 2013 }}. ''[[The Seattle Times]]''. Retrieved on August 25, 2013.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Fradkin|first=Philip L.|title=The Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906: How San Francisco Nearly Destroyed Itself|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_71JLwlm-kC&pg=PA398|year=2005|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-23060-6|pages=97–99}}</ref><ref>[http://about.bankofamerica.com/en-us/our-story/our-heritage-loans-handshake.html#fbid=myl7YnkRJtX Bank of America - Our Heritage: Loans on a Handshake]. About.bankofamerica.com (April 18, 1906). Retrieved on 2013-08-25.</ref> |
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In 1922, Giannini established [[Banca d’America e d’Italia|Bank of America and Italy]]. In 1986, Deutsche Bank AG acquired 100% of Banca d'America e d'Italia, a bank established in Naples in 1917 following the name-change of Banca dell'Italia Meridionale with the latter established in 1918. In 1918 another corporation, Bancitaly Corporation, was organized by A. P. Giannini, the largest stockholder of which was Stockholders Auxiliary Corporation. This company acquired the stocks of various banks located in New York City and certain foreign countries.<ref>In 1918, the [http://www.bancaditalia.it/servizi_pubbl/biblioteca/patrimonio/fondi_bibliobaffi/fondo_NewYork;internal&action=_setlanguage.action?LANGUAGE=en Bank of Italy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718173115/http://www.bancaditalia.it/servizi_pubbl/biblioteca/patrimonio/fondi_bibliobaffi/fondo_NewYork%3Binternal%26action%3D_setlanguage.action?LANGUAGE=en |date=July 18, 2011}} opened a Delegation in New York in order to follow American political, economic and financial affairs more closely; together with the London Delegation, this was the first permanent overseas office opened by the Bank, at a time when the foundations were being laid{{by whom|date=December 2016}} for the restructuring of the international money market. |
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</ref> |
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In 1928, Giannini merged his bank with [[Bank of America, Los Angeles]], headed by [[Orra E. Monnette]] and consolidated it with other bank holdings to create what would become the largest banking institution in the country. Bank of Italy was renamed on November 3, 1930, to [[Bank of America NT&SA|Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association]], which was the only such designated bank in the United States of America at that time. Giannini and Monnette headed the resulting company, serving as co-chairs.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} |
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===Expansion in California=== |
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Branch banking was introduced by Giannini shortly after 1909 legislation in California that allowed for branch banking in the state. Its first branch outside San Francisco was established in 1909 in San Jose. By 1929, the bank had 453 banking offices in California with aggregate resources of over US$1.4 billion.<ref>"Statewide Expansion" pp. 34–38 In: Branch Banking California. Report for the U.S. Federal Reserve System. web version at: [https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/scribd/?title_id=801&filepath=/docs/historical/federal%20reserve%20history/frcom_br_gp_ch_banking/branch_banking_california.pdf PDF version]</ref> There is a replica of the 1909 Bank of Italy branch bank in [[History Park at Kelley Park|History Park]] in San Jose, and the 1925 [[Bank of Italy Building (San Jose, California)|Bank of Italy Building]] is an important downtown landmark. Giannini sought to build a national bank, expanding into most of the western states as well as into the insurance industry, under the aegis of his holding company, [[Transamerica Corporation]]. In 1953, regulators succeeded in forcing the separation of [[Transamerica Corporation]] and Bank of America under the [[Clayton Antitrust Act]].<ref>[http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/206/206.F2d.163.10768.html Transamerica Corporation, a corporation of Delaware] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830051239/http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/206/206.F2d.163.10768.html |date=August 30, 2009}}, has petitioned this court to review an order of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System entered against it under Section 11 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 21, to enforce compliance with Section 7 of the Act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 18.</ref> The passage of the [[Bank Holding Company Act of 1956]] prohibited banks from owning [[non-bank subsidiary|non-banking subsidiaries]] such as insurance companies. Bank of America and Transamerica were separated, with the latter company continuing in the insurance business. However, federal banking regulators prohibited Bank of America's interstate banking activity, and Bank of America's domestic banks outside California were forced into a separate company that eventually became [[First Interstate Bancorp]], later acquired by [[Wells Fargo and Company]] in 1996. It was not until the 1980s, with a change in federal banking legislation and regulation, that Bank of America was again able to expand its domestic consumer banking activity outside California. |
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New technologies also allowed credit cards to be linked directly to individual bank accounts. In 1958, the bank introduced the BankAmericard, which changed its name to [[Visa Inc.|Visa]] in 1977.<ref>{{cite web|title=The History of Visa |publisher=Visa Inc. |url=http://www.visalatam.com/e_aboutvisa/acerca_historia.jsp |accessdate=October 29, 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103060809/http://www.visalatam.com/e_aboutvisa/acerca_historia.jsp |archivedate=November 3, 2007 |deadurl=yes}}</ref> A consortium of other California banks introduced Master Charge (now [[MasterCard]]) to compete with BankAmericard. |
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===Expansion outside California=== |
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Following the passage of the [[Bank Holding Company Act of 1956]], BankAmerica Corporation was established for the purpose of owning and operation of Bank of America and its subsidiaries. |
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Bank of America expanded outside [[California]] in 1983, with its acquisition, orchestrated in part by [[Stephen McLin]], of [[Seafirst Corporation]] of [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], and its wholly owned banking subsidiary, Seattle-First National Bank. Seafirst was at risk of seizure by the federal government after becoming insolvent due to a series of bad loans to the [[petroleum|oil]] industry. BankAmerica continued to operate its new subsidiary as Seafirst rather than Bank of America until the 1998 merger with NationsBank. |
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BankAmerica experienced huge losses in 1986 and 1987 by the placement of a series of bad loans in the [[Third World]], particularly in Latin America. The company fired its CEO, Sam Armacost. Though Armacost blamed the problems on his predecessor, [[Alden W. Clausen|A.W. (Tom) Clausen]], Clausen was appointed to replace Armacost. The losses resulted in a huge decline of BankAmerica stock, making it vulnerable to a hostile [[takeover]]. [[First Interstate Bancorp]] of Los Angeles (which had originated from banks once owned by BankAmerica), launched such a bid in the fall of 1986, although BankAmerica rebuffed it, mostly by selling operations. It sold its FinanceAmerica subsidiary to [[Chrysler]] and the brokerage firm [[Charles Schwab Corporation|Charles Schwab and Co.]] back to [[Charles R. Schwab|Mr. Schwab]]. It also sold [[Bank of America and Italy]] to [[Deutsche Bank]]. By the time of the [[Black Monday (1987)|1987 stock market crash]], BankAmerica's share price had fallen to $8, but by 1992 it had rebounded mightily to become one of the biggest gainers of that half-decade. |
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[[File:BOA Tower Feb 2010.jpg|thumb|alt=An expansion into New York City (right).|The [[Bank of America Tower (New York City)|Bank of America Tower]] in New York City.]] |
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BankAmerica's next big acquisition came in 1992. The company acquired its California rival, Security Pacific Corporation and its subsidiary [[Security Pacific Bank|Security Pacific National Bank]] in California and other banks in [[Arizona]], [[Idaho]], [[Oregon]], and [[Washington (state)|Washington]] (which Security Pacific had acquired in a series of acquisitions in the late 1980s). This was, at the time, the largest bank acquisition in history. Federal regulators, however, forced the sale of roughly half of Security Pacific's Washington subsidiary, the former [[Rainier Bank]], as the combination of Seafirst and Security Pacific Washington would have given BankAmerica too large a share of the market in that state. The Washington branches were divided and sold to West One Bancorp (now [[U.S. Bancorp]]) and [[KeyBank]].<ref>{{cite news| first=Michele| last=Matassa Flores| title=Key Bank, West One Finalize Purchases| date=April 2, 1992| url =http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920402&slug=1484315| work=Seattle Times| accessdate =September 27, 2008}}</ref> Later that year, BankAmerica expanded into Nevada by acquiring Valley Bank of Nevada. |
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In 1994, BankAmerica acquired the [[Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co.]] of Chicago, which had become federally owned as part of the same oil industry debacle emanating from Oklahoma City's Penn Square Bank, that had brought down numerous financial institutions including Seafirst. At the time, no bank possessed the resources to bail out Continental, so the federal government operated the bank for nearly a decade. [[Illinois]] at that time regulated branch banking extremely heavily, so Bank of America Illinois was a single-unit bank until the 21st century. BankAmerica moved its national lending department to Chicago in an effort to establish a financial beachhead in the region. |
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[[File:Bank of America, Loop 410, San Antonio, TX IMG 7852.JPG|right|thumb|Pyramid-shaped former Bank of America branch building towers over [[Interstate 410]] in [[San Antonio, Texas]].]] |
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These mergers helped BankAmerica Corporation to once again become the largest U.S. bank holding company in terms of deposits, but the company fell to second place in 1997 behind North Carolina's fast-growing [[NationsBank Corporation]], and to third in 1998 [[First Union]] Corp. |
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On the capital markets side, the acquisition of Continental Illinois helped BankAmerica to build a leveraged finance origination and distribution business (Continental Illinois had extensive leveraged lending relationships) which allowed the firm's existing broker-dealer, BancAmerica Securities (originally named BA Securities), to become a full-service franchise.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-19030823.html BA Securities, Inc. Changes to BancAmerica Securities, Inc.]. Business Wire, January 16, 1997</ref><ref>[http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/161_115/-74439-1.html BankAmerica Adds 4 Traders To Its High-Yield Bond Sector]. American Banker, June 17, 1996</ref> In addition, in 1997, BankAmerica acquired [[Robertson Stephens]], a San Francisco–based investment bank specializing in high technology for $540 million. Robertson Stephens was integrated into BancAmerica Securities and the combined subsidiary was renamed BancAmerica Robertson Stephens.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/09/business/bankamerica-to-buy-robertson-stephens-investment-company.html?pagewanted=all BankAmerica to Buy Robertson, Stephens Investment Company]. The New York Times, June 9, 1997</ref> |
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===Merger of NationsBank and BankAmerica=== |
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[[File:BankAmerica logo.png|right|thumb|Logo of the former Bank of America (BA), 1969–1998]] |
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In 1997, Bank of America lent [[D. E. Shaw & Co.]], a large [[hedge fund]], $1.4 billion in order to run various businesses for the bank.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kolman |first=Joe |title=Inside D. E. Shaw |url=http://www.derivativesstrategy.com/magazine/archive/1998/0298fea2.asp |publisher=Derivatives Strategy |accessdate=June 22, 2013 |year=1998 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022004632/http://www.derivativesstrategy.com/magazine/archive/1998/0298fea2.asp |archivedate=October 22, 2013 |df= }}</ref> However, D.E. Shaw suffered significant loss after the [[1998 Russian financial crisis|1998 Russia bond default]].<ref>{{cite news| title=BankAmerica's Coulter to Step Down Oct. 30| url=http://articles.latimes.com/1998/oct/21/business/fi-34613| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=October 21, 1998| first=Thomas S.| last=Mulligan}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=Surprise BofA Losses Trigger Plunge in Stock| url=http://articles.latimes.com/1998/oct/15/business/fi-32616| accessdate=June 22, 2013| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=October 15, 1998| first=Tom| last=Petruno}}</ref> [[NationsBank]] of Charlotte acquired BankAmerica in October 1998 in what was the largest bank acquisition in history at that time.<ref>{{cite news| last1=Martin| first1=Mitchell| title=Nations Bank Drives $62 Billion Merger: A New BankAmerica: Biggest of U.S. Banks| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/14/news/14iht-banks.t_0.html| work=The New York Times| accessdate=June 5, 2014| date=April 14, 1998}}</ref> |
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While NationsBank was the nominal survivor, the merged bank took the better-known name of Bank of America. Hence, the holding company was renamed Bank of America Corporation, while NationsBank, N.A. merged with Bank of America NT&SA to form Bank of America, N.A. as the remaining legal bank entity. The combined bank still operates under Federal Charter 13044, which was granted to Giannini's Bank of Italy on March 1, 1927. However, the merged company is headquartered in Charlotte and retains NationsBank's pre-1998 stock price history. Additionally, all [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]] (SEC) filings before 1998 are listed under NationsBank, not Bank of America. NationsBank president, chairman and CEO [[Hugh McColl]] took on the same roles with the merged company. |
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Bank of America possessed combined assets of $570 billion, as well as 4,800 branches in 22 states. Despite the mammoth size of the two companies, federal regulators insisted only upon the divestiture of 13 branches in [[New Mexico]], in towns that would be left with only a single bank following the combination. (Branch divestitures are only required if the combined company will have a larger than 25% [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]] (FDIC) [[deposit market share]] in a particular state or 10% deposit market share overall.) In addition, the combined broker-dealer, created from the integration of BancAmerica Robertson Stephens and NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, was named [[Banc of America Securities]] in 1998.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-54639141.html Montgomery name disappears, as Banc of America Securities debuts]. Investment Dealers' Digest, May 17, 1999</ref> |
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===2001 to present=== |
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[[File:Porter Ranch Bank of America.jpg|thumb|left|Typical Bank of America local office in Los Angeles]] |
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In 2001, McColl stepped down and named [[Ken Lewis (executive)|Ken Lewis]] as his successor. |
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In 2004, Bank of America announced it would purchase Boston-based bank [[FleetBoston Financial]] for $47 billion in cash and stock.<ref name="fleetboston-merger">{{cite news| title=US banking mega-merger unveiled| date=October 27, 2003| work=[[BBC News]]| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/business/3217803.stm}}</ref> By merging with Bank of America, all of its banks and branches were given the Bank of America logo. At the time of merger, FleetBoston was the seventh largest bank in United States with $197 billion in assets, over 20 million customers and revenue of $12 billion.<ref name="fleetboston-merger"/> Hundreds of FleetBoston workers lost their jobs or were demoted, according to ''[[The Boston Globe]]''. |
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On June 30, 2005, Bank of America announced it would purchase credit card giant [[MBNA]] for $35 billion in cash and stock. The [[Federal Reserve Board]] gave final approval to the merger on December 15, 2005, and the merger closed on January 1, 2006. The acquisition of MBNA provided Bank of America a leading domestic and foreign credit card issuer. The combined Bank of America Card Services organization, including the former MBNA, had more than 40 million U.S. accounts and nearly $140 billion in outstanding balances. Under Bank of America the operation was renamed FIA Card Services. |
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[[File:Bank of America footprint.png|thumb|left|Bank of America footprint]] |
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Bank of America operated under the name BankBoston in many other Latin American countries, including Brazil. In 2006, Bank of America sold BankBoston's operations to Brazilian bank Banco Itaú, in exchange for Itaú shares. The BankBoston name and trademarks were not part of the transaction and, as part of the sale agreement, cannot be used by Bank of America (ending the BankBoston brand). |
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In May 2006, Bank of America and [[Banco Itaú]] (Investimentos Itaú S.A.) entered into an acquisition agreement through which Itaú agreed to acquire BankBoston's operations in Brazil and was granted an exclusive right to purchase Bank of America's operations in [[Chile]] and [[Uruguay]]. The deal was signed in August 2006 under which Itaú agreed to purchase Bank of America's operations in Chile and Uruguay. Prior to the transaction, BankBoston's Brazilian operations included asset management, private banking, a credit card portfolio, and small, middle-market, and large corporate segments. It had 66 branches and 203,000 clients in Brazil. BankBoston in Chile had 44 branches and 58,000 clients and in Uruguay it had 15 branches. In addition, there was a credit card company, OCA, in Uruguay, which had 23 branches. BankBoston N.A. in Uruguay, together with OCA, jointly served 372,000 clients. While the BankBoston name and trademarks were not part of the transaction, as part of the sale agreement, they cannot be used by Bank of America in Brazil, Chile or Uruguay following the transactions. Hence, the BankBoston name has disappeared from Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. The Itaú stock received by Bank of America in the transactions has allowed Bank of America's stake in Itaú to reach 11.51%. Banco de Boston de Brazil had been founded in 1947. |
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On November 20, 2006, Bank of America announced the purchase of [[The United States Trust Company]] for $3.3 billion, from the [[Charles Schwab Corporation]]. US Trust had about $100 billion of [[assets under management]] and over 150 years of experience. The deal closed July 1, 2007.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bank of America To Buy U.S. Trust |work=Forbes |date=November 20, 2006 |url=https://www.forbes.com/markets/2006/11/20/bank-of-america-markets-equity-cx_jl_1120markets12.html |accessdate=August 22, 2007 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012191411/http://www.forbes.com/markets/2006/11/20/bank-of-america-markets-equity-cx_jl_1120markets12.html |archivedate=October 12, 2007}}</ref> |
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On September 14, 2007, Bank of America won approval from the Federal Reserve to acquire [[LaSalle Bank Corporation]] from [[ABN AMRO]] for $21 billion. With this purchase, Bank of America possessed $1.7 trillion in assets. A Dutch court blocked the sale until it was later approved in July. The acquisition was completed on October 1, 2007. Many of LaSalle's branches and offices had already taken over smaller regional banks within the previous decade, such as Lansing and Detroit based [[Michigan National Bank]]. |
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The deal increased Bank of America's presence in [[Illinois]], [[Michigan]], and [[Indiana]] by 411 branches, 17,000 commercial bank clients, 1.4 million retail customers, and 1,500 ATMs. Bank of America became the largest bank in the Chicago market with 197 offices and 14% of the deposit share, surpassing [[JPMorgan Chase]]. |
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[[LaSalle Bank]] and [[LaSalle Bank Midwest]] branches adopted the Bank of America name on May 5, 2008.<ref>{{cite news|last=Tom |first=Henderson |title=BOA to 'paint the town red' with LaSalle name change |work=[[Crain Communications|Crain's Detroit Business]] |date=April 14, 2008 |url=http://www.crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080414/SUB/804140331 |accessdate=May 5, 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605152132/http://www.crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20080414%2FSUB%2F804140331 |archivedate=June 5, 2008 |deadurl=no |df= }}</ref> |
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Ken Lewis, who had lost the title of Chairman of the Board, announced that he would retire as CEO effective December 31, 2009, in part due to controversy and legal investigations concerning the purchase of Merrill Lynch. [[Brian Moynihan]] became President and CEO effective January 1, 2010, and afterward credit card charge offs and delinquencies declined in January. Bank of America also repaid the $45 billion it had received from the Troubled Assets Relief Program.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fitzpatrick |first=Dan |last2=Lublin |first2=Joann S. |date=October 2, 2009 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125434715693053835 |title=Bank of America Chief Resigns Under Fire |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |accessdate=March 29, 2010 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211201826/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125434715693053835.html |archivedate=February 11, 2010 |deadurl=no |df= }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=La Monica |first=Paul R. |date=February 24, 2010 |title=BofA: No longer hated on Wall Street |url=http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/24/markets/thebuzz/index.htm |work=[[CNNMoney.com]] |accessdate=March 29, 2010 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100225163959/http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/24/markets/thebuzz/index.htm| archivedate=February 25, 2010 | deadurl=no}}</ref> |
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====Acquisition of Countrywide Financial==== |
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On August 23, 2007, the company announced a $2 billion [[repurchase agreement]] for [[Countrywide Financial]]. This purchase of [[preferred stock]] was arranged to provide a [[return on investment]] of 7.25% ''[[per annum]]'' and provided the option to purchase [[common stock]] at a price of $18 per share.<ref>{{cite news|first=Caroline |last=Salas |first2=Steven |last2=Church |title=Countrywide Gives Bank of America $447 million Gain |publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |date=August 23, 2007 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aqHmmBljF9Ok&refer=home |accessdate=October 29, 2007 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009123419/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087 |archivedate=October 9, 2007 }}</ref> |
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On January 11, 2008, Bank of America announced that it would buy Countrywide Financial for $4.1 billion.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bank of America to buy Countrywide for $4 billion |agency=[[Reuters]] |date=January 11, 2008 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/sppage012-n11303684-oisbn/bank-of-america-to-buy-countrywide-for-4-billion-idUSN1130368420080111}}</ref> In March 2008, it was reported that the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) was investigating Countrywide for possible fraud relating to home loans and mortgages.<ref>{{cite news |work=[[CNNMoney.com]]| title=Countrywide FBI Investigation| date=March 10, 2008| url=http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/08/news/companies/countrywide_FBI/index.htm| accessdate=March 10, 2008| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309171915/http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/08/news/companies/countrywide_FBI/index.htm| archivedate=March 9, 2008 |deadurl=no}}</ref> This news did not hinder the acquisition, which was completed in July 2008,<ref>[[Kelli Arena|Arena, Kelli]] (September 24, 2008), [http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/23/news/companies/fbi_finance/index.htm "FBI probing bailout firms"], ''[[CNNMoney.com]]''. Retrieved March 8, 2010.</ref> giving the bank a substantial market share of the mortgage business, and access to Countrywide's resources for servicing mortgages.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bauerlein |first=Valerie |last2=Hagerty |first2=James S. |title=Behind Bank of America's Big Gamble |work=The Wall Street Journal |pages=A1, A5 |date=January 12, 2008 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB120005404048583617 |accessdate=January 15, 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115063355/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120005404048583617.html |archivedate=January 15, 2008 |deadurl=no |df= }}</ref> The acquisition was seen as preventing a potential bankruptcy for Countrywide. Countrywide, however, denied that it was close to bankruptcy. Countrywide provided mortgage servicing for nine million mortgages valued at $1.4 trillion as of December 31, 2007.<ref>{{cite press release| title=Countrywide Financial Corporation Thirteen Month Statistical Data for the period ended December 31, 2007| url=http://about.countrywide.com/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?rid=1093858| accessdate=January 15, 2008| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113103647/http://about.countrywide.com/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?rid=1093858| archivedate=January 13, 2008}}</ref> |
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This purchase made Bank of America Corporation the leading mortgage originator and servicer in the U.S., controlling 20–25% of the home loan market.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/sns-ap-bank-of-america-countrywide,0,1423871.story |title=BofA completes deal for Countrywide Financial |agency=Associated Press |date=July 1, 2008 |accessdate=July 2, 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080804033303/http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/sns-ap-bank-of-america-countrywide%2C0%2C1423871.story |archivedate=August 4, 2008 |deadurl=no |newspaper=Orlando Sentinel}}</ref> The deal was structured to merge Countrywide with the Red Oak Merger Corporation, which Bank of America created as an independent subsidiary. It has been suggested that the deal was structured this way to prevent a potential bankruptcy stemming from large losses in Countrywide hurting the parent organization by keeping Countrywide [[bankruptcy remote]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aEtv5YOYSFwY&refer=us |title=Bank of America May Not Guarantee Countrywide's Debt |publisher=Bloomberg News |date=May 2, 2008 |accessdate=August 3, 2008 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122224028/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103 |archivedate=January 22, 2009}}</ref> Countrywide Financial has changed its name to [[Bank of America Home Loans]]. |
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[[File:BOAChart.svg|thumb|Chart showing the trajectory of BOA share value and transaction volume during the 2007–2009 Financial Crisis]] |
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{{anchor|Discrimination}} |
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In December 2011, the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] announced a $335 million [[Settlement agreement|settlement]] with Bank of America over discriminatory lending practice at Countrywide Financial. [[Attorney General]] [[Eric Holder]] said a federal probe found [[Mortgage discrimination|discrimination]] against qualified African-American and Latino borrowers from 2004 to 2008. He said that minority borrowers who qualified for [[prime lending rate|prime loans]] were steered into higher-interest-rate [[subprime loans]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/21/news/companies/bank_america_settlement/index.htm?iid=HP_River| publisher=CNN| first=Chris| last=Isidore| title=BofA settles unfair lending claims for $335 million| date=December 21, 2011}}</ref> |
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====Acquisition of Merrill Lynch==== |
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On September 14, 2008, Bank of America announced its intention to purchase [[Merrill Lynch|Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.]] in an all-stock deal worth approximately $50 billion. Merrill Lynch was at the time within days of collapse, and the acquisition effectively saved Merrill from bankruptcy.<ref>{{cite web |first=Zach |last=Lowe |url=http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202424529176 |title=Wachtell, Shearman, Cravath on Bank of America-Merrill Deal |publisher=Law.com |date=September 15, 2008 |accessdate=October 17, 2010}}</ref> Around the same time Bank of America was reportedly also in talks to purchase [[Lehman Brothers]], however a lack of government guarantees caused the bank to abandon talks with Lehman.<ref>{{cite news |last=Popper |first=Margaret |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aiu6I5m66pcw&refer=home |title=Bank of America Said to Walk Away From Lehman Talks (Update1) |publisher=Bloomberg |date=September 14, 2008 |accessdate=October 17, 2010 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613163056/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087 |archivedate=June 13, 2010}}</ref> Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy the same day Bank of America announced its plans to acquire Merrill Lynch.<ref>{{cite news| first=Andrew Ross| last=Sorkin| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/business/15lehman.html| work=The New York Times| title=Lehman Files for Bankruptcy; Merrill Is Sold| date=September 15, 2008| accessdate=March 31, 2010}}</ref> This acquisition made Bank of America the largest [[financial services]] company in the world.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7615931.stm |title=Lehman Brothers files for Bankruptcy |work=BBC News |date=September 16, 2008 |accessdate=October 17, 2010| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090122193638/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7615931.stm| archivedate=January 22, 2009| deadurl= no}}</ref> [[Temasek Holdings]], the largest shareholder of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., briefly became one of the largest shareholders of Bank of America, with a 3% stake.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i2utZN9Et0f-U1kZR8zBMw51evaA |title=AFP: Temasek could profit on Merrill takeover: economists |publisher=[[Google News]] |date=September 15, 2008 |accessdate=October 17, 2010 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508055125/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i2utZN9Et0f-U1kZR8zBMw51evaA |archivedate=May 8, 2009 |df= }}</ref> However, taking a loss [[Reuters]] estimated at $3 billion, the [[Singapore]] [[sovereign wealth fund]] sold its whole stake in Bank of America in the first quarter of 2009.<ref>Lim, Kevin & Azhar, Saeed (May 22, 2009), [https://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSTRE54L17Q20090522 "Singapore's Temasek defends costly Bank of America exit"], Reuters, retrieved August 3, 2009</ref> |
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Shareholders of both companies approved the acquisition on December 5, 2008, and the deal closed January 1, 2009.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-01-2009/0004948222&EDATE= |publisher=prnewswire.com for Bank of America |title=Bank of America Completes Merrill Lynch Purchase |date=January 1, 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215024145/http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=%2Fwww%2Fstory%2F01-01-2009%2F0004948222&EDATE= |archivedate=February 15, 2009 |df= }}</ref> Bank of America had planned to retain various members of the then Merrill Lynch's CEO, [[John Thain]]'s management team after the merger.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a8FKrqSTGhNU&refer=asia |periodical=Bloomberg L.P. |date=December 18, 2008 |accessdate=November 17, 2009 |title=Bank of America Moves Chai; Berkery Said to Depart |first=Bradley |last=Keoun |first2=Poppy |last2=Trowbridge |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014072312/http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080 |archivedate=October 14, 2007}}</ref> However, after Thain was removed from his position, most of his allies left. The departure of [[Nelson Chai]], who had been named Asia-Pacific president, left just one of Thain's hires in place: Tom Montag, head of sales and trading.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d4def908-f241-11dd-9678-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1| periodical=Financial Times| date=February 3, 2009| accessdate=November 17, 2009| title=BofA Asia head and Thain ally leaves| first=Greg| last=Farrell| first2=Francesco| last2=Guerrera}}</ref> |
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The bank, in its January 16, 2009 earnings release, revealed massive losses at Merrill Lynch in the fourth quarter, which necessitated an infusion of money that had previously been negotiated<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/business/16merrill.html| work=The New York Times| title=Bank of America to Receive Additional $20 billion| first1=Eric| last1=Dash| first2=Louise| last2=Story| date=January 16, 2009| accessdate=April 26, 2010}}</ref> with the government as part of the government-persuaded deal for the bank to acquire Merrill. Merrill recorded an operating loss of $21.5 billion in the quarter, mainly in its sales and trading operations, led by Tom Montag. The bank also disclosed it tried to abandon the deal in December after the extent of Merrill's trading losses surfaced, but was compelled to complete the merger by the U.S. government. The bank's stock price sank to $7.18, its lowest level in 17 years, after announcing earnings and the Merrill mishap. The market capitalization of Bank of America, including Merrill Lynch, was then $45 billion, less than the $50 billion it offered for Merrill just four months earlier, and down $108 billion from the merger announcement. |
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Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis testified before Congress<ref name=ATLoffer /> that he had some misgivings about the acquisition of Merrill Lynch, and that federal officials pressured him to proceed with the deal or face losing his job and endangering the bank's relationship with federal regulators.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=a5A4F5W_PygQ|archive-url=http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20100312122842/http%3A//www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid%3D20601110%26sid%3Da5A4F5W_PygQ|dead-url=yes|archive-date=March 12, 2010|title=Bank Chief Tells of U.S. Pressure to Buy Merrill Lynch |author=LOUISE STORY and JO BECKER |work=The New York Times |date=June 11, 2009 |accessdate=June 13, 2009}}</ref> |
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Lewis' statement is backed up by internal emails subpoenaed by Republican lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bankofamerica-fed/emails-show-fed-pressed-bofa-to-do-merrill-deal-idUSTRE5596Q620090610|title=BofA documents, e-mails show pressure to buy Merrill Lynch |author=Kim Dixon |publisher=Reuters |date=June 10, 2009 |accessdate=January 1, 2018}}</ref> In one of the emails, Richmond Federal Reserve President [[Jeffrey M. Lacker|Jeffrey Lacker]] threatened that if the acquisition did not go through, and later Bank of America were forced to request federal assistance, the management of Bank of America would be "gone". Other emails, read by Congressman [[Dennis Kucinich]] during the course of Lewis' testimony, state that Mr. Lewis had foreseen the outrage from his shareholders that the purchase of Merrill would cause, and asked government regulators to issue a letter stating that the government had ordered him to complete the deal to acquire Merrill. Lewis, for his part, states he didn't recall requesting such a letter. |
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The acquisition made Bank of America the number one [[Securities underwriting|underwriter]] of global [[high-yield debt]], the third largest underwriter of global equity and the ninth largest adviser on global mergers and acquisitions.<ref>{{Cite press release|title=Bank of America Buys Merrill Lynch Creating Unique Financial Services Firm |publisher=Bank of America |date=September 15, 2008 |url=http://investor.bankofamerica.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=71595&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1196836#fbid=Gk9QXMB-5-P }}</ref> As the credit crisis eased, losses at Merrill Lynch subsided, and the subsidiary generated $3.7 billion of Bank of America's $4.2 billion in profit by the end of quarter one in 2009, and over 25% in quarter 3 2009.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8008158.stm |work=BBC News | title=Debt overshadows US bank's profit | date=April 20, 2009 | accessdate=March 31, 2010}}</ref><ref name="BBergMLprofits">{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=au3YrxK8NS2s |title=Merrill Bringing Down Lewis Gives Bank 30% Profits as 'a Steal' |last=Mildenberg |first=David |date=October 5, 2009 |publisher=Bloomberg |accessdate=December 12, 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525071928/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109 |archivedate=May 25, 2010 }}</ref> |
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On September 28, 2012, Bank of America settled the class action lawsuit over the Merrill Lynch acquisition and will pay $2.43 billion.<ref>{{cite news| title=Bank of America Settles Suit Over Merrill for $2.43 Billion| url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/09/28/bank-of-america-to-pay-2-43-billion-to-settle-class-action-over-merrill-deal/?_r=0| first=Jessica| last1=Silver-Greenberg| first2=Susanne| last2=Craig| date=September 28, 2012| newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> This was one of the first major securities class action lawsuits stemming from the financial crisis of 2007–2008 to settle. Many major financial institutions had a stake in this lawsuit, including [[Chicago Clearing Corporation]], [[hedge fund]]s, and bank trusts, due to the belief that Bank of America stock was a sure investment. |
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====Federal Troubled Asset Relief Program==== |
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Bank of America received $20 billion in the federal bailout from the U.S. government through the [[Troubled Asset Relief Program]] (TARP) on January 16, 2009, and a guarantee of $118 billion in potential losses at the company.<ref>{{cite web| first1=Patrick| last1=Rucker| first2=Jonathan| last2=Stempel| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-banks-idUSTRE50F1Q720090116| title=Bank of America gets big government bailout| date=January 16, 2009| agency=Reuters}}</ref> This was in addition to the $25 billion given to them in the fall of 2008 through TARP. The additional payment was part of a deal with the U.S. government to preserve Bank of America's merger with the troubled investment firm Merrill Lynch.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/americasDealsNews/idUKTRE5140OA20090205 |title=U.S. pushed Bank of America to complete Merrill buy: report |date=February 5, 2009 |agency=Reuters |first=Joseph A. |last=Giannone |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208113545/http://uk.reuters.com/article/americasDealsNews/idUKTRE5140OA20090205 |archivedate=February 8, 2009}}</ref> Since then, members of the U.S. Congress have expressed considerable concern about how this money has been spent, especially since some of the recipients have been accused of misusing the bailout money.<ref>{{cite news| first=David| last=Ellis| url=http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/11/news/companies/congress_banks/index.htm?postversion=2009021117| title=Bank CEOs flogged in Washington| work=CNNMoney.com| date=February 11, 2009| accessdate=March 31, 2010}}</ref> Then CEO [[Ken Lewis (executive)|Ken Lewis]] was quoted as claiming "We are still lending, and we are lending far more because of the TARP program." Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, however, were skeptical and quoted many anecdotes about loan applicants (particularly small business owners) being denied loans and credit card holders facing stiffer terms on the debt in their card accounts. |
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According to a March 15, 2009, article in ''[[The New York Times]]'', Bank of America received an additional $5.2 billion in government bailout money, channeled through [[American International Group]].<ref>Walsh, Mary Williams (March 15, 2009), [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/business/16rescue.html?ref=business "A.I.G. Lists Firms It Paid With Taxpayer Money"], ''The New York Times''. Retrieved March 31, 2009.</ref> |
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As a result of its federal bailout and management problems, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that the Bank of America was operating under a secret "memorandum of understanding" (MOU) from the U.S. government that requires it to "overhaul its board and address perceived problems with risk and liquidity management". With the federal action, the institution has taken several steps, including arranging for six of its [[Bank of America#Board of directors|directors]] to resign and forming a Regulatory Impact Office. Bank of America faces several deadlines in July and August and if not met, could face harsher penalties by federal regulators. Bank of America did not respond to ''The Wall Street Journal'' story.<ref>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124771415436449393 "US Regulators to B of A: Obey or Else"], ''The Wall Street Journal'', July 16, 2009</ref> |
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On December 2, 2009, Bank of America announced it would repay the entire $45 billion it received in TARP and exit the program, using $26.2 billion of excess liquidity along with $18.6 billion to be gained in "common equivalent securities" ([[Tier 1 capital]]). The bank announced it had completed the repayment on December 9. Bank of America's [[Ken Lewis (executive)|Ken Lewis]] said during the announcement, "We appreciate the critical role that the U.S. government played last fall in helping to stabilize financial markets, and we are pleased to be able to fully repay the investment, with interest.... As America's largest bank, we have a responsibility to make good on the taxpayers' investment, and our record shows that we have been able to fulfill that commitment while continuing to lend."<ref>[http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bank-of-america-to-repay-entire-45-billion-in-tarp-to-us-taxpayers-78355327.html Bank of America to Repay Entire $45 billion in TARP to U.S. Taxpayers], PR Newswire, December 2, 2009</ref><ref name="AFP">{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hVDH-K0l9zbGcavAHfSrw1-Pn6og |title=Bank of America Completes US TARP Repayment |date=October 12, 2009 |accessdate=December 12, 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523055149/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hVDH-K0l9zbGcavAHfSrw1-Pn6og |archivedate=May 23, 2012 |work=Google News}}</ref> |
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====Bonus settlement==== |
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On August 3, 2009, Bank of America agreed to pay a $33 million fine, without admission or denial of charges, to the [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]] (SEC) over the non-disclosure of an agreement to pay up to $5.8 billion of bonuses at Merrill. The bank approved the bonuses before the merger but did not disclose them to its shareholders when the shareholders were considering approving the Merrill acquisition, in December 2008. The issue was originally investigated by [[New York State]] [[Attorney General]] [[Andrew Cuomo]], who commented after the suit and announced settlement that "the timing of the bonuses, as well as the disclosures relating to them, constituted a 'surprising fit of corporate irresponsibility{{'"}} and "our investigation of these and other matters pursuant to New York's [[Martin Act]] will continue." Congressman Kucinich commented at the same time that "This may not be the last fine that Bank of America pays for how it handled its merger of Merrill Lynch."<ref>Kouwe, Zachery (August 3, 2009), [http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/sec-sues-bank-of-america-over-merrill-deal/#comment-296937 "BofA Settles S.E.C. Suit Over Merrill Deal"] DealBook blog, ''The New York Times'', Retrieved August 3, 2009.</ref> A federal judge, [[Jed Rakoff]], in an unusual action, refused to approve the settlement on August 5.<ref>Stempel, Jonathan, |
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[https://www.reuters.com/article/wtUSInvestingNews/idUSTRE57555A20090807 "Judge blocks Bank of America-SEC bonus settlement"] ''Reuters'', 8/6/09. Retrieved 8/7/09.</ref> |
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A first hearing before the judge on August 10 was at times heated, and he was "sharply critic[al]" of the bonuses. David Rosenfeld represented the SEC, and Lewis J. Liman, son of [[Arthur L. Liman]], represented the bank. The actual amount of bonuses paid was $3.6 billion, of which $850 million was "guaranteed" and the rest was shared amongst 39,000 workers who received average payments of $91,000; 696 people received more than $1 million in bonuses; at least one person received a more than $33 million bonus.<ref>Story, Louise (August 10, 2009), [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/business/11bank.html?_r=1&hp "Judge Attacks Merrill Pre-Merger Bonuses"], ''The New York Times'', (p. B1, August 11, 2009 NY ed.), retrieved August 11, 2009</ref> |
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On September 14, the judge rejected the settlement and told the parties to prepare for trial to begin no later than February 1, 2010. The judge focused much of his criticism on the fact that the fine in the case would be paid by the bank's shareholders, who were the ones that were supposed to have been injured by the lack of disclosure. He wrote, "It is quite something else for the very management that is accused of having lied to its shareholders to determine how much of those victims’ money should be used to make the case against the management go away," ... "The proposed settlement," the judge continued, "suggests a rather cynical relationship between the parties: the S.E.C. gets to claim that it is exposing wrongdoing on the part of the Bank of America in a high-profile merger; the bank's management gets to claim that they have been coerced into an onerous settlement by overzealous regulators. And all this is done at the expense, not only of the shareholders, but also of the truth."<ref name="NYT10" /> |
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While ultimately deferring to the SEC, in February 2010, Judge Rakoff approved a revised settlement with a $150 million fine "reluctantly", calling the accord "half-baked justice at best" and "inadequate and misguided". Addressing one of the concerns he raised in September, the fine will be "distributed only to Bank of America shareholders harmed by the non-disclosures, or 'legacy shareholders', an improvement on the prior $33 million while still "paltry", according to the judge. Case: SEC v. Bank of America Corp., 09-cv-06829, [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]].<ref>Glovin, David (February 22, 2010), [https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aMU9F1952OHA "Bank of America $150 million SEC Accord Is Approved"], ''Bloomberg.com'', retrieved March 2, 2010</ref> |
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Investigations also were held on this issue in the [[United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]],<ref name="NYT10">Story, |
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Louise, [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/business/15bank.html?hp "Judge Rejects Settlement Over Merrill Bonuses"], ''The New York Times'', September 14, 2009. Retrieved September 14, 2009.</ref> under chairman [[Edolphus Towns]] (D-NY)<ref>[http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4619&Itemid=2 "Executive Compensation: How Much is Too Much?"] Hearing, with statements, October 28, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2011.</ref> and in its investigative [[United States House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Domestic Policy|Domestic Policy Subcommittee]] under Kucinich.<ref>[http://oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4771:kucinich-on-new-ny-ag-fraud-charges-against-bank-of-america-and-sec-settling-charges-against-bofa-for-misleading-shareholders&catid=80:press-room&Itemid=39 "Kucinich on new NY AG fraud charges against Bank of America and SEC settling charges against BofA for misleading shareholders"] Press release, February 4, 2010. Retrieved March 2, 2010.</ref> |
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====Fraud==== |
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In 2010, the U.S. government accused the bank of defrauding schools, hospitals, and dozens of state and local government organizations via misconduct and illegal activities involving the investment of proceeds from municipal bond sales. As a result, the bank agreed to pay $137.7 million, including $25 million to the Internal Revenue service and $4.5 million to state attorney general, to the affected organizations to settle the allegations.<ref>{{cite news| title=Bank of America to pay $137 million in state fraud cases| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/07/AR2010120703314.html| newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]| first=Zachary A.| last=Goldfarb| date=December 7, 2010| accessdate=February 3, 2018}}</ref> |
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Former bank official Douglas Campbell pleaded guilty to antitrust, conspiracy and wire fraud charges. As of January 2011, other bankers and brokers are under indictment or investigation.<ref>Selway, William, & Braun, Martin Z. (January 2011), "The Men who Rigged the Muni Market", ''[[Bloomberg Markets]]'', pp. 79–84</ref> |
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On October 24, 2012, the top [[federal prosecutor]] in [[Manhattan]] filed a [[lawsuit]] alleging that Bank of America fraudulently cost American taxpayers more than $1 billion when Countrywide Financial sold toxic mortgages to [[Fannie Mae]] and [[Freddie Mac]]. The scheme was called 'Hustle', or High Speed Swim Lane.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/10/24/163581908/u-s-sues-bank-of-america-over-mortgage-loans-to-fannie-and-freddie| title=U.S. Sues Bank Of America Over Mortgage Loans To Fannie And Freddie| date=October 24, 2012| work=npr}}</ref><ref name="nytimes hustle">{{cite news| title=U.S. Accuses Bank of America of a ‘Brazen’ Mortgage Fraud | work=The New York Times| date=October 24, 2012| accessdate=February 3, 2018| url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/federal-prosecutors-sue-bank-of-america-over-mortgage-program/| first=Ben| last=Protess}}</ref> On May 23, 2016 the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the finding of fact by the jury that low quality mortgages were supplied by Countrywide to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the "Hustle" case supported only "intentional breach of contract," not fraud. The action, for civil fraud, relied on provisions of the [[Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989#Use with respect to the subprime mortgage crisis|Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act]]. The decision turned on lack of intent to defraud at the time the contract to supply mortgages was made.<ref name="WSJ52316">{{cite news| first1=Aruna| last1=Viswanatha| first2=Christina| last2=Rexrode| title=Bank of America Penalty Thrown Out in Crisis-Era ‘Hustle’ Case Appeals court says government didn’t prove case, bank doesn’t have to pay $1.27 billion| url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/appeals-court-throws-out-1-27-billion-penalty-against-bank-of-america-1464018896| accessdate=May 24, 2016| work=The Wall Street Journal| date=May 23, 2016| subscription=yes}}</ref> |
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====Downsizing (2011 to 2014)==== |
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During 2011, Bank of America began conducting personnel reductions of an estimated 36,000 people, contributing to intended savings of $5 billion per year by 2014.<ref>{{Cite news |publisher=American City Business Journals |date=September 13, 2011 |accessdate=September 15, 2011 |title=Bank of America ending 30K more jobs |work=[[American City Business Journals|Philadelphia Business Journal]] |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/morning_roundup/2011/09/bank-of-america-ending-30k-more-jobs.html |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/61i4fd3dV?url=http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/morning_roundup/2011/09/bank-of-america-ending-30k-more-jobs.html?s=newsletter&ed=2011-09-13&ana=e_phil_rdup |archivedate=September 15, 2011 |deadurl=no |df= }}</ref> |
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In December 2011, ''Forbes'' ranked Bank of America's financial health 91st out of the nation's largest 100 banks and thrift institutions.<ref>Badenhausen, Kurt (December 13, 2011). [https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2011/12/13/americas-best-and-worst-banks/ "Full List: America's Best And Worst Banks"]. ''Forbes''.</ref> |
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Bank of America cut around 16,000 jobs in a quicker fashion by the end of 2012 as revenue continued to decline because of new regulations and a slow economy. This put a plan one year ahead of time to eliminate 30,000 jobs under a cost-cutting program, called Project New BAC.<ref>{{cite web| title=BofA speeds up plans to cut 16,000 jobs: WSJ| url=https://news.yahoo.com/bofa-speeds-plans-cut-16-000-jobs-wsj-175953062--sector.html| publisher=Yahoo News| accessdate=September 21, 2012}}</ref> |
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In the first quarter of 2014, [[Berkshire Hathaway|Berkshire]] bank purchased 20 Bank of America branches in Central and eastern New York for 14.4 million dollars. The branches were from Utica/Rome region and down the Mohawk Valley east to the capital region. |
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In April and May 2014, Bank of America sold two dozen branches in Michigan to [[Huntington Bancshares]]. The locations were converted to Huntington National Bank branches in September.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2014/05/huntington_bank_adding_13_bran.html#incart_related_stories| title=Huntington Bank buys 13 branches to Flint-area, Monroe, Muskegon in $500 million deal| work=MLive.com}}</ref> |
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As part of its new strategy Bank of America is focused on growing its mobile banking platform. As of 2014, Bank of America has 31 million active online users and 16 million mobile users. Its retail banking branches have decreased to 4,900 as a result of increased mobile banking use and a decline in customer branch visits. |
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====Sale of stake in China Construction Bank==== |
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In 2005, Bank of America acquired a 9% stake in [[China Construction Bank]], one of the [[Big Four (banking)#China|Big Four banks in China]], for $3 billion.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bank of America invests in China |newspaper=BBC News |date=June 17, 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4102670.stm |accessdate=August 22, 2007}}</ref> It represented the company's largest foray into China's growing banking sector. Bank of America has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and [[Guangzhou]] and was looking to greatly expand its Chinese business as a result of this deal. In 2008, Bank of America was awarded Project Finance Deal of the Year at the 2008 ALB Hong Kong Law Awards.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legalbusinessonline.com.au |title=ALB Asia – legal deals, law deals, law firm deals, lawyer deals |publisher=Legalbusinessonline.com.au |accessdate=October 17, 2010}}</ref> In November 2011, Bank of America announced plans to divest most of its stake in the China Construction Bank.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bank of America's Construction Bank Sale Lifts Capital, Reduces China Risk |publisher=Bloomberg |date=November 15, 2011 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-14/bank-of-america-sells-most-of-china-construction-stake-boost-its-capital.html |accessdate=June 10, 2012 |first1=Hugh |last1=Son |first2=Stephanie |last2=Tong}}</ref> |
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In September 2013, Bank of America sold its remaining stake in the [[China Construction Bank]] for as much as $1.5 billion, marking the firm's full exit from the country.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/03/us-bankofamerica-china-idUSBRE98209P20130903| title=Bank of America selling remaining stake in Chinese bank| first1=Elzio| last1=Barreto| first2=Denny| last2=Thomas| first3=Peter| last3=Rudegeair| publisher=Reuters| date=September 3, 2013}}</ref> |
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====$17 billion settlement with Justice Department==== |
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In August 2014, Bank of America agreed to a near-$17 billion deal to settle claims against it relating to the sale of toxic mortgage-linked securities including subprime home loans, in what was believed to be the largest settlement in U.S. corporate history. The bank agreed with the [[United States Department of Justice|U.S. Justice Department]] to pay $9.65 billion in fines, and $7 billion in relief to the victims of the faulty loans which included homeowners, borrowers, pension funds and municipalities.<ref name="BAsettlement">{{cite news| title=Bank of America to pay nearly $17 bn to settle mortgage claims| url=http://www.philadelphiaherald.com/index.php/sid/224972439|date=August 21, 2014| accessdate=August 22, 2014| newspaper=Philadelphia Herald}}</ref> Real estate economist Jed Kolko said the settlement is a "drop in the bucket" compared to the $700 billion in damages done to 11 million homeowners. Since the settlement covered such a substantial portion of the market, he said for most consumers "you're out of luck."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/home-front/2012/02/10/mortgage-settlement-do-the-big-banks-owe-you-money |title=Mortgage Settlement: Do the Big Banks Owe You Money? |first=Meg |last=Handley |work=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103021055/http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/home-front/2012/02/10/mortgage-settlement-do-the-big-banks-owe-you-money |archivedate=January 3, 2015 |df= }}</ref> |
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Much of the government's prosecution was based on information provided by three whistleblowers – Shareef Abdou (a senior vice president at the bank), Robert Madsen (a professional appraiser employed by a bank subsidiary) and Edward O'Donnell (a Fannie Mae official). The three men received $170 million in whistleblower awards.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mahanyertl.com/2015/whistleblowers-share-170m-bank-america-settlement/| title=Whistleblowers Share Over $170M in Bank of America Settlement| date=January 5, 2015| accessdate=November 25, 2015| website=MahanyLaw| last=Mahany| first=Brian}}</ref> |
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==== DOD Community Bank ==== |
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[[File:DOD_Community_Bank_operated_by_Bank_of_America_logo.png|thumb|right|DOD Community Bank logo.]] |
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Bank of America has formed a partnership with the [[United States Department of Defense]] creating a newly chartered bank '''DOD Community Bank'''<ref>[https://www.dodcommunitybank.com Community Bank official website]</ref> ("Community Bank") providing full banking services to military personnel at 68 branches and ATM locations<ref>[https://www.dodcommunitybank.com/home/locations DOD Community Bank Branch and ATM locations]</ref> on U.S. military installations in [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]] [[Cuba]], [[Diego Garcia]], [[Germany]], [[Japan]], [[Italy]], [[Kwajalein Atoll]], [[South Korea]], the [[Netherlands]] and the [[United Kingdom]]. It should be noted that even though Bank of America operates Community Bank customer services are not interchangeable between the two financial institutions,<ref>[https://www.dodcommunitybank.com/home/newcomer/faqs/general_faqs Community Bank Frequently Asked Questions]</ref> meaning a Community Bank customer cannot go to a Bank of America branch and withdraw from their account and vice versa. Deposits made into checking and savings accounts are insured by the [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]] up to $250,000 despite the fact that none of Community's operating branches are located within the jurisdictional borders of the United States. |
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====Decision Not to Finance Makers of Military-Style Guns==== |
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In April 2018, Bank of America announced that it would stop providing financing to makers of military-style weapons such as the AR-15 rifle.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hsu|first1=Tiffany|title=Bank of America to Stop Financing Makers of Military-Style Guns|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/business/bank-of-america-guns.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbusiness&action=click&contentCollection=business®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=sectionfront|accessdate=12 April 2018|publisher=New York Times|date=10 April 2018}}</ref> In announcing the decision, Bank of America referenced recent mass shootings and said that it wanted to "contribute in any way we can" to reduce them. |
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===Introduction of Erica=== |
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At the Money 20/20 conference in October 2016, retail banking president Thong Nguyen introduced a [[Chatterbot|digital assistant]] called Erica, whose name comes from the bank name. Starting in 2017, customers will be able to use voice or text to communicate with Erica and get advice, check balances and pay bills. Unlike the people who work for the bank, Erica will be available 24/7. Digital banking head Michelle Moore said the technology was designed to help customers do a better job of managing money. |
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Forrester analyst Peter Wannemacher says bank customer experiences with the technology have been "uneven or poor," but Bank of America intends to adapt Erica as needed. |
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==Operations== |
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[[File:Bank of America - Near Northeast.JPG|thumb|right|Bank of America branch in [[Washington, D.C.]] ]] |
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Bank of America generates 90% of its revenues in its domestic market. The core of Bank of America's strategy is to be the number one bank in its domestic market. It has achieved this through key acquisitions.<ref>{{cite news |title=Awards for Excellence 2007 Best Bank: Bank of America |publisher=Euromoney |date=July 13, 2007 |url=http://www.euromoney.com/article.asp?ArticleID=1391932 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070921195713/http://www.euromoney.com/article.asp?ArticleID=1391932 |archivedate=September 21, 2007}}</ref> |
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===Consumer Banking=== |
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Consumer Banking, the largest division in the company, provides financial services to consumers and small businesses including, banking, investments and lending products including business loans, mortgages, and credit cards. It provides for [[investing online]] through its [[electronic trading platform]], Merrill Edge. The consumer banking division represented 38% of the company's total revenue in 2016.<ref name=10K/> The company earns revenue from interest income, service charges, and fees. The company is also a [[mortgage servicer]]. It competes primarily with the [[retail banking]] arms of America's three other megabanks: [[Citigroup]], [[JPMorgan Chase]], and [[Wells Fargo]]. The Consumer Banking organization includes over 4,600 retail financial centers and approximately 15,900 [[automated teller machine]]s. |
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Bank of America is a member of the [[Global ATM Alliance]], a joint venture of several major international banks that provides for reduced fees for consumers using their [[Automated teller machine|ATM]] card or [[check card]] at another bank within the Global ATM Alliance when traveling internationally. This feature is restricted to withdrawals using a debit card and users are still subject to foreign currency conversion fees, credit card withdrawals are still subject to cash advance fees and foreign currency conversion fees. |
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===Global Banking=== |
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[[File:LaurastBOAT.jpg|right|thumb|[[Bank of America Tower (Jacksonville)|Bank of America Tower]], located on [[Laura Street]] in [[Jacksonville, Florida]]]] |
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The Global Banking division provides banking services, including investment banking and lending products to businesses. It includes the businesses of Global Corporate Banking, Global Commercial Banking, Business Banking, and Global Investment Banking. The division represented 22% of the company's revenue in 2016.<ref name=10K/> |
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Before Bank of America's acquisition of [[Merrill Lynch]], the Global Corporate and Investment Banking (GCIB) business operated as [[Banc of America Securities]] LLC. The bank's investment banking activities operate under the Merrill Lynch subsidiary and provided [[mergers and acquisitions]] advisory, [[underwriting]], capital markets, as well as sales & trading in fixed income and equities markets. Its strongest groups include [[Leverage (finance)|Leveraged Finance]], [[Syndicated Loans]], and [[Mortgage-backed security|mortgage-backed securities]]. It also has one of the largest research teams on [[Wall Street]]. [[Bank of America Merrill Lynch]] is headquartered in New York City. |
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===Global Wealth and Investment Management=== |
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The Global Wealth and Investment Management (GWIM) division manages investment assets of institutions and individuals. It includes the businesses of Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and U.S. Trust and represented 21% of the company's total revenue in 2016.<ref name=10K/> It is among the 10 largest U.S. wealth managers. It has over $2.5 trillion in client balances.<ref name=10K/> GWIM has five primary lines of business: Premier Banking & Investments (including Bank of America Investment Services, Inc.), The Private Bank, Family Wealth Advisors, and Bank of America Specialist. |
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===Global Markets=== |
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The Global Markets division offers services to institutional clients, including trading in [[financial securities]]. The division provides research and other services such as [[market maker]] and [[risk management]] using [[derivative]]s. The division represented 19% of the company's total revenues in 2016.<ref name=10K/> |
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===Offices=== |
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The Bank of America principal executive offices are located in the Bank of America Corporate Center, Charlotte, North Carolina. The skyscraper is located at 100 North Tryon Street, and stands at 871 ft (265 m), having been completed in 1992. |
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In 2012, Bank of America cut ties to the [[American Legislative Exchange Council]] (ALEC).<ref>{{cite news| title=Whoa! Bank of America cuts ties to ALEC| url=https://teamster.org/blog/2015/11/whoa-bank-america-cuts-ties-alec-0| publisher=[[Teamsters]]| date=November 6, 2012}}</ref> |
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====International offices==== |
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Bank of America's Global Corporate and Investment Banking has its U.S. headquarters in New York, European headquarters in London, and Asian headquarters in Hong Kong and Singapore.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://corp.bankofamerica.com/public/public.portal?_pd_page_label=products/regions/asia/contact |title=Asia Pacific | Global Regions | Bank of America Merrill Lynch |publisher=Bank of America |accessdate=October 17, 2010 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721021214/http://corp.bankofamerica.com/public/public.portal?_pd_page_label=products%2Fregions%2Fasia%2Fcontact |archivedate=July 21, 2009 |df= }}</ref> |
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==Charitable efforts== |
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[[File:Bank of America LA Pride 2011.jpg|thumb|Bank of America volunteers at the Los Angeles LGBT pride parade in 2011]] |
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In 2007, the bank offered employees a $3,000 rebate for the purchase of hybrid vehicles. The company also provided a $1,000 rebate or a lower interest rate for customers whose homes qualified as energy efficient.<ref>{{cite news| title=Bank Vows $20 Billion for Green Projects| url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/17500301/| agency=[[Associated Press]]| work=[[NBC News]]| date=February 6, 2008}}</ref> In 2007, Bank of America partnered with Brighter Planet to offer an eco-friendly credit card, and later a debit card, which help build renewable energy projects with each purchase.<ref>{{cite news| title=Credit Cards' Latest Pitch: Green Benefits| url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB120225763311445823| first=Carolyn| last=Cui| work=Wall Street Journal| date=November 30, 2007| subscription=yes}}</ref> In 2010, the bank completed construction of the 1 Bank of America Center in [[Charlotte center city]]. The tower, and accompanying hotel, is a [[Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design|LEED-certified]] building.<ref>{{cite news| title=Credit Cards' Latest Pitch: Green Benefits| url=http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2010/05/24/daily52.html| first1=Adam| first2=Will| last2=Boye| last1=O’Daniel| work=Charlotte Business Journal| date=May 10, 2011}}</ref> |
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Bank of America has also donated money to help health centers in Massachusetts<ref>{{cite news| last=Kowalczyk| first=Liz| title=Bank to aid health centers| url=http://archive.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/03/10/bank_to_aid_health_centers/| work=[[The Boston Globe]]| date=March 10, 2007}}</ref> and made a $1 million donation in 2007 to help homeless shelters in Miami.<ref>{{cite news| last=Freer| first=Jim| title=BofA donates $1M to Camillus House| url=http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2007/03/05/daily40.html| publisher=South Florida Business Journal| date=March 9, 2007}}</ref> |
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In 1998, the bank made a ten-year commitment of $350 billion to provide affordable mortgage, build affordable housing, support small business and create jobs in disadvantaged neighborhoods.<ref>{{cite press release| title=Bank of America Meeting $350 Billion Community Development Goals| url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bank-of-america-meeting-350-billion-community-development-goals-77946622.htmll| publisher=Bank of America| via=PRNewswire| date=June 20, 2002}}</ref> |
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In 2004, the bank pledged $750 million over a ten-year period for community development lending and affordable housing programs.<ref>{{cite news| title=Beyond the Balance Sheet: Social Scorecard| url=https://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2004/1213/171tab.html| publisher=[[Forbes]]| date=December 13, 2004}}</ref> |
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==Lawsuits== |
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In August 2011, Bank of America was sued for $10 billion by [[American International Group]]. Another lawsuit filed in September 2011 pertained to $57.5 billion in [[mortgage-backed securities]] Bank of America sold to [[Fannie Mae]] and [[Freddie Mac]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Fitch may downgrade BofA, Morgan Stanley, Goldman |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Fitch-may-downgrade-BofA-Morgan-Stanley-Goldman-2217414.php |archive-url=http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/20111208121205/http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Fitch-may-downgrade-BofA-Morgan-Stanley-Goldman-2217414.php |dead-url=yes |archive-date=December 8, 2011 |date=October 13, 2011 |first=Eileen AJ |last=Connelly |agency=Associated Press |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] |accessdate=October 13, 2011}}</ref> That December, Bank of America agreed to pay $335 million to settle a federal government claim that Countrywide Financial had [[Mortgage discrimination|discriminated]] against Hispanic and [[African-American]] homebuyers from 2004 to 2008, prior to being acquired by BofA.<ref>{{cite news| title=Countrywide Will Settle a Bias Suit| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/business/us-settlement-reported-on-countrywide-lending.html| date=December 21, 2011| first=Charlie| last=Savage| work=The New York Times| accessdate=November 19, 2011}}</ref> In September 2012, BofA settled out of court for $2.4 billion in a class action lawsuit filed by BofA shareholders who felt they were misled about the purchase of [[Merrill Lynch]]. |
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On February 9, 2012, it was announced that the five largest mortgage servicers (Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo) agreed to a historic settlement with the federal government and 49 states.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com/faq| title=Joint State-Federal Mortgage Servicing Settlement FAQ| publisher=Attorneys General Executive Committee| accessdate=June 15, 2015}}</ref> The settlement, known as the National Mortgage Settlement (NMS), required the servicers to provide about $26 billion in relief to distressed homeowners and in direct payments to the states and federal government. This settlement amount makes the NMS the second largest civil settlement in U.S. history, only trailing the [[Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/business/states-negotiate-26-billion-agreement-for-homeowners.html?hp |newspaper=The New York Times| title=Mortgage Plan Gives Billions to Homeowners, but With Exceptions| date=February 9, 2012| first1=Nelson D.| last1=Schwartz| first2=Julie| last2=Creswell}}</ref> The five banks were also required to comply with 305 new mortgage servicing standards. Oklahoma held out and agreed to settle with the banks separately. |
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On October 24, 2012, American [[federal prosecutor]]s filed a $1 billion [[civil lawsuit]] against Bank of America for [[mortgage fraud]] under the [[False Claims Act]], which provides for possible penalties of triple the damages suffered. The government asserted that [[Countrywide Financial|Countrywide]], which was acquired by Bank of America, [[Rubber stamp (politics)|rubber-stamped]] mortgage loans to risky borrowers and forced taxpayers to guarantee billions of bad loans through [[Fannie Mae]] and [[Freddie Mac]]. The suit was filed by [[Preet Bharara]], the United States attorney in [[Manhattan]], the inspector general of [[FHFA]] and the special inspector for the [[Troubled Asset Relief Program]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/10F/24/federal-prosecutors-sue-bank-of-america-over-mortgage-program/| work=The New York Times| first=Ben| last=Protess| title=U.S. Accuses Bank of America of a 'Brazen' Mortgage Fraud| date=October 24, 2012}}</ref> In March 2014, Bank of America settled the suit by agreeing to pay $6.3 billion to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and to buy back around $3.2 billion worth of mortgage bonds.<ref>{{cite news |last=Son |first=Hugh |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-26/bofa-agrees-to-9-5-billion-mortgage-settlement-boosts-dividend.html |title=BofA's Moynihan Delivers at Last on Vow to Boost Dividend |publisher=Bloomberg |date=March 26, 2014 |accessdate=August 23, 2014}}</ref> |
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In April 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered Bank of America to provide and estimated $727 million in relief to consumers harmed by practices related to credit card add-on products. According to the Bureau, roughly 1.4 million customers were affected by deceptive marketing of add-on products and 1.9 million customers were illegally charged for credit monitoring and reporting services they were not receiving. The deceptive marketing misconduct involved telemarketing scripts containing misstatements and off-script sales pitches made by telemarketers that were misleading and omitted pertinent information. The unfair billing practices involved billing customers for privacy related products without having the authorization necessary to perform the credit monitoring and credit report retrieval services. As a result, the company billed customers for services they did not receive, unfairly charged consumers for interest and fees, illegally charged approximately 1.9 million accounts, and failed to provide the product benefit.<ref>{{cite web| title=CFPB Orders Bank Of America To Pay $727 Million In Consumer Relief For Illegal Credit Card Practices| url=http://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-orders-bank-of-america-to-pay-727-million-in-consumer-relief-for-illegal-credit-card-practices/| publisher=Consumer Financial Protection Bureau| accessdate=8 June 2016}}</ref> |
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A $7.5 million settlement was reached in April 2014 with former chief financial officer for Bank of America, Joe L. Price, over allegations that the bank's management withheld material information related to its 2008 merger with [[Merrill Lynch]].<ref>{{cite news| last=Abrams |first=Rachel |title=Ex-Finance Chief at Bank of America to Pay $7.5 Million in Settlement| url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/ex-finance-chief-at-bank-of-america-to-pay-7-5-million-in-settlement/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0| newspaper=The New York Times| accessdate=April 28, 2014| date=April 25, 2014}}</ref> In August 2014, the [[United States Department of Justice]] and the bank agreed to a $16.65 billion agreement over the sale of risky, mortgage-backed securities before the [[Great Recession]]; the loans behind the securities were transferred to the company when it acquired banks such as Merrill Lynch and Countrywide in 2008.<ref name="LA_Times_2014">{{cite news| url=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bank-of-america-settlement-justice-mortgage-countrywide-20140821-story.html| title=Bank of America to Pay Record $16.65 Billion to Settle Mortgage Claims| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=August 21, 2014| first=Jim| last=Puzzanghera}}</ref> As a whole, the three firms provided $965 billion of mortgage-backed securities from 2004–2008.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/eric-holder-to-announce-17b-bank-of-america-settlement/| title=Holder to Announce Record Bank of America Settlement| work=[[CBS News]]| date=August 21, 2014}}</ref> The settlement was structured to give $7 billion in consumer relief and $9.65 billion in penalty payments to the federal government and state governments; [[California]], for instance, received $300 million to recompense public pension funds.<ref name="LA_Times_2014" /><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/08/20/5118079/bank-of-americas-nearly-17-billion.html| title=Bank of America's Nearly $17 Billion Settlement Could be Announced Thursday| date=August 20, 2014| newspaper=The Charlotte Observer| last=Roberts| first=Deon}}</ref> The settlement was the largest in United States history between a single company and the federal government.<ref>{{cite news| title=Bank of America Reaches $16.65 Billion Mortgage Settlement| url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/bank-of-america-reaches-16-65-billion-mortgage-settlement/| newspaper=The New York Times| date=August 21, 2014| last1=Corkery| first1=Michael| last2=Apuzzo| first2=Matt}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=Bank of America Agrees to Nearly $17B Settlement| url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/08/20/bank-of-america-doj-settlement/14355935/| newspaper=USA Today| date=August 21, 2014| last1=McCoy| first1=Kevin| last2=Johnson| first2=Kevin}}</ref> |
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A [[lawsuit]] has been filed against Bank of America by a former senior executive, Omeed Malik, who was accused of [[sexual harassment]]. Malik filed a [[defamation]] claim against the bank and is seeking damages of more than $100 million.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-27/ex-bofa-executive-malik-seeks-100-million-in-defamation-claim|title=Ex-BofA Executive Omeed Malik Seeks $100 Million in Defamation Claim|date=2018-04-27|work=Bloomberg.com|access-date=2018-04-30|language=en}}</ref> |
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==Controversies== |
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===Parmalat controversy=== |
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[[Parmalat]] SpA is a multinational Italian dairy and food corporation. Following [[Parmalat bankruptcy timeline|Parmalat's 2003 bankruptcy]], the company sued Bank of America for $10 billion, alleging the bank profited from its knowledge of Parmalat's financial difficulties. The parties announced a settlement in July 2009, resulting in Bank of America paying Parmalat $98.5 million in October 2009.<ref>{{cite news| title=BofA settles with Parmalat for $100M| work=Charlotte Business Journal| date=July 28, 2009| url=http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2009/07/27/daily21.html| accessdate=June 19, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=Italy/US: Parmalat receives Bank of America settlement| publisher=Aroq Ltd.| date=October 5, 2009| url=http://www.just-food.com/news/parmalat-receives-bank-of-america-settlement_id108270.aspx?lk=fs| accessdate=June 19, 2011}}</ref> In a related case, on April 18, 2011, an Italian court acquitted Bank of America and three other large banks, along with their employees, of charges they assisted Parmalat in concealing its fraud, and of lacking sufficient internal controls to prevent such frauds. Prosecutors did not immediately say whether they would appeal the rulings. In [[Parma]], the banks were still charged with covering up the fraud.<ref>{{cite news| title=Judge Clears Banks in Parmalat Case| work=The New York Times| date=April 18, 2011| url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/04/18/judge-clears-banks-in-parmalat-case/| first=Eric| last=Sylvers| accessdate=June 19, 2011}}</ref> |
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===Consumer credit controversies=== |
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In January 2008, Bank of America began notifying some customers without payment problems that their interest rates were more than doubled, up to 28%. The bank was criticized for raising rates on customers in good standing, and for declining to explain why it had done so.<ref>Berner, Robert (February 7, 2008), [http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/feb2008/db2008026_105146.htm A Credit Card You Want to Toss"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100126071514/http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/feb2008/db2008026_105146.htm |date=January 26, 2010 }}, ''[[Bloomberg BusinessWeek]]''. Retrieved March 1, 2010.</ref><ref>Palmer, Kimberly (February 28, 2008), [https://www.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/real-estate/articles/2008/02/28/mortgage-woes-boost-credit-card-debt.html Mortgage Woes Boost Credit Card Debt] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505074500/http://www.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/real-estate/articles/2008/02/28/mortgage-woes-boost-credit-card-debt.html |date=May 5, 2010 }}, ''U.S. News & World Report''. Retrieved March 1, 2010.</ref> In September 2009, a Bank of America credit card customer, Ann Minch, posted a video on YouTube criticizing the bank for raising her interest rate. After the video went [[Viral video|viral]], she was contacted by a Bank of America representative who lowered her rate. The story attracted national attention from television and internet commentators.<ref>Delaney, Arthur (September 21, 2009, updated November 21, 2009), [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/21/ann-minch-triumphs-in-cre_n_293423.html "Ann Minch Triumphs In Credit Card Fight"], ''[[The Huffington Post]]''. Retrieved March 1, 2010.</ref><ref>Ferran, Lee (September 29, 2009), [http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/woman-boycotts-bank-america-wins/story?id=8688175 "Woman Boycotts Bank of America, Wins"], ''[[Good Morning America]]'', [[ABC News]]. Retrieved March 1, 2010.</ref><ref>Pepitone, Julianne (September 29, 2009), [http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/29/news/companies/youtube_bank_of_america/index.htm "YouTube credit card rant gets results"]. ''CNNMoney''. Retrieved March 1, 2010.</ref> More recently, the bank has been criticized for allegedly seizing three properties that were not under their ownership, apparently due to incorrect addresses on their legal documents.<ref name="wronghomes">{{cite news| url=http://abcnews.go.com/Business/bank-america-sued-foreclosing-wrong-homes/story?id=9637897| title=No Mortgage, Still Foreclosed? Bank of America Sued for Seizing Wrong Homes| last=Gomstyn| first=Alice| date=January 25, 2010| work=ABC News| accessdate=March 4, 2010| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100128101326/http://abcnews.go.com/Business/bank-america-sued-foreclosing-wrong-homes/story?id=9637897| archivedate=January 28, 2010| deadurl=no}}</ref> |
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===WikiLeaks=== |
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In October 2009, [[Julian Assange]] of [[WikiLeaks]] claimed that his organization possessed a 5 gigabyte [[hard drive]] formerly used by a Bank of America executive and that Wikileaks intended to publish its contents.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9139180/Wikileaks_plans_to_make_the_Web_a_leakier_place |title=Wikileaks plans to make the Web a leakier place |first=Dan |last=Nystedt |date=October 9, 2009 |work=[[Computerworld]] |accessdate=December 19, 2010| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217211520/http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9139180/Wikileaks_plans_to_make_the_Web_a_leakier_place |archivedate=December 17, 2010 |deadurl=no}}</ref> |
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In November 2010, ''[[Forbes]]'' published an interview with Assange in which he stated his intent to publish information which would turn a major U.S. bank "inside out".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2010/11/29/wikileaks-julian-assange-wants-to-spill-your-corporate-secrets |title=WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange Wants To Spill Your Corporate Secrets |author=Andy Greenberg |date=November 29, 2010 |work=Forbes |accessdate=December 19, 2010}}</ref> In response to this announcement, Bank of America stock dropped 3.2%.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bank-of-america-shares-fall-on-wikileaks-fears/ |title=Bank Of America Shares Fall On WikiLeaks Fears |agency=Associated Press |date=November 30, 2010 |work=CBS News |accessdate=February 3, 2018}}</ref> |
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In December 2010, Bank of America announced that it would no longer service requests to transfer funds to WikiLeaks,<ref name="CB1">{{cite web| last=Lundin| first=Leigh| title=WikiLicks| url=http://criminalbrief.com/?p=15747| work=Crime| publisher=Criminal Brief |location=Orlando |date=February 20, 2011}}</ref> stating that "Bank of America joins in the actions previously announced by [[MasterCard]], [[PayPal]], [[Visa Inc.|Visa]] Europe and others and will not process transactions of any type that we have reason to believe are intended for WikiLeaks... This decision is based upon our reasonable belief that WikiLeaks may be engaged in activities that are, among other things, inconsistent with our internal policies for processing payments."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/business/global/19bank.html |title=Bank of America Suspends Payments Made to WikiLeaks |first=Nelson D. |last=Schwartz |date=December 18, 2010 |work=The New York Times |accessdate=December 19, 2010 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226072451/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/business/global/19bank.html |archivedate=December 26, 2010 |deadurl=no}}</ref> |
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Later in December, it was announced that Bank of America purchased more than 300 [[Internet domain name]]s in an attempt to preempt bad publicity that might be forthcoming in the anticipated WikiLeaks release. The domain names included as ''BrianMoynihanBlows.com'', ''BrianMoynihanSucks.com'' and similar names for other top executives of the bank.<ref>{{cite news |title= Bank of America Wants You to Know Its Executives Don’t Suck |url=http://domainnamewire.com/2010/12/20/bank-of-america-wants-you-to-know-its-executives-dont-suck/ |work=[[Domain Name Wire]] |date=December 20, 2010 |accessdate=February 22, 2011| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110115015249/http://domainnamewire.com/2010/12/20/bank-of-america-wants-you-to-know-its-executives-dont-suck/ |archivedate=January 15, 2011 |deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Tiku |first=Nitasha |title=Bank of America Prepares to Get WikiLeaked by Buying Up Negative Domain Names |url=http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/12/wikileaks_newest_ally_gorbache.html |work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |date= December 22, 2010 |accessdate=January 2, 2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228205258/http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/12/wikileaks_newest_ally_gorbache.html |archivedate=December 28, 2010 |deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Kapne, Suzanne |title= Hundreds of anti-BofA websites registered |url= http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3993f69e-0e2b-11e0-86e9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz19tXSHwD4 |work=Financial Times |date= December 23, 2010 |accessdate=January 2, 2011| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110101223701/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3993f69e-0e2b-11e0-86e9-00144feabdc0.html| archivedate=January 1, 2011 |deadurl=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Rothacker |first=Rick |title=Bank of America buys up critical domain names |url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/12/23/1929263/its-getting-harder-to-call-bofa.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/20111208150447/http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/12/23/1929263/its-getting-harder-to-call-bofa.html |dead-url=yes |archive-date=December 8, 2011 |work=The Charlotte Observer |date=December 23, 2010 |accessdate=January 2, 2011}}</ref> |
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Sometime before August 2011, WikiLeaks claimed that 5 GB of Bank of America leaks was part of the deletion of over 3500 communications by [[Daniel Domscheit-Berg]], a now ex-WikiLeaks volunteer.<ref name="twitter">{{cite news |title=We can confirm that the DDB ... |url=https://twitter.com/wikileaks/statuses/105246329529319424 |date=August 21, 2011}}</ref><ref name="twitterboa">{{cite news |title=We can confirm that the DDB |url=https://twitter.com/wikileaks/statuses/105244480457801728 |date=August 21, 2011}}</ref> |
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===Anonymous=== |
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On March 14, 2011, one or more members of the decentralized collective [[Anonymous (group)|Anonymous]] began releasing emails it said were obtained from Bank of America. According to the group, the emails documented "corruption and fraud", and relate to the issue of improper foreclosures. The source, identified publicly as Brian Penny,<ref>{{cite news| first1=Cynthia| last1=Koons| first2=Dan| last2=Fitzpatrick| title=Anonymous' Perplexing Leak of Bank of America Documents| url=https://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/03/15/anonymous-perplexing-leak-of-bank-of-america-documents/|work=The Wall Street Journal| accessdate=March 1, 2012| date=March 15, 2011| subscription=yes}}</ref> was a former LPI Specialist from Balboa Insurance, a firm which used to be owned by the bank, but was sold to Australian Reinsurance Company QBE.<ref>{{cite news| agency=Reuters| title=QBE Completes Acquisition of Balboa Insurance Co. Portfolio| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/01/idUS260210+01-Jun-2011+PRN20110601| accessdate=March 1, 2012| date=June 1, 2011}}</ref> |
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===Mortgage business=== |
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In 2010 the state of [[Arizona]] launched an investigation into Bank of America for misleading homeowners who sought to modify their [[mortgage loan]]s. According to the attorney general of Arizona, the bank "repeatedly has deceived" such mortgagors. In response to the investigation, the bank has given some modifications on the condition that the homeowners refrain from criticizing the bank. In 2011 the U.S. [[Department of Housing and Urban Development]] inspector general claimed that the bank was blocking access to employees and data in order to slow down an investigation into its alleged misdeeds.<ref>{{cite web| last=Garofalo| first=Pat| title=Bank Of America's Offer To Homeowners: We’ll Modify Loans If You'll Erase All The Mean Things Said About Us On Twitter| work=[[ThinkProgress]]| date=January 26, 2012| url=http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/01/26/412273/bank-of-america-buys-silence-fraud-investigation/| accessdate=January 26, 2012}}</ref> |
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===Accounts of Iranians frozen=== |
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In May 2014 many Iranian students in the U.S. and some American-Iranian citizens realized their accounts have been frozen by Bank of America.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 17, 2014 |url=http://www.tehrantimes.com/economy-and-business/115741-bank-of-america-closing-iranian-students-accounts |title=Bank of America closing Iranian students' accounts |accessdate=February 3, 2018 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522005843/http://www.tehrantimes.com/economy-and-business/115741-bank-of-america-closing-iranian-students-accounts |archivedate=May 22, 2014 |newspaper=Tehran Times}}</ref> Although Bank of America denied to reveal any information or reason regarding this, some Iranians believe that it is related to [[sanctions against Iran]].<ref>{{cite news |first1=Ryan |last1=Costello |first2=Jamal |last2=Abdi |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ryan-costello/why-is-bank-of-america-cl_b_5330851.html |title=Why Is Bank of America Closing Iranian Students' Accounts? | Ryan Costello |work=The Huffington Post |date=May 15, 2014 |accessdate=August 23, 2014}}</ref> Although most account holders say they did not receive any notification prior their accounts being frozen, Bank of America insists that they do not freeze any account without prior notification.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2014/05/140515_u10_u02_bank_of_america.shtml| title= نگرانی از 'بسته شدن حساب ایرانیان' در یک بانک آمریکایی| work=[[BBC Persian Television]]| accessdate=February 3, 2018| trans-title=Concerned about 'closing an Iranian account' in an American Bank| date=May 26, 2014| language=Farsi}}</ref> |
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===Investment in mountaintop removal=== |
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Bank of America has been criticized for its heavy investment in the environmentally damaging processes of coal mining, especially through [[mountaintop removal]] (MTR).<ref>{{cite news |first=Zach |last=Carter |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/09/bank-of-america-protests-_n_1502493.html#43_ceo-defends-support-for-mountaintop-removal-mining |title=CEO Defends Support for Mountaintop Removal Mining |work=The Huffington Post |date=May 9, 2012 |accessdate=September 29, 2015}}</ref> On May 6, 2015, the company announced that it would "reduce [its] credit exposure ... to the coal mining industry," i.e. reduce its financing of companies engaging in MTR, coal mining, and coal power production. The company stated that pressure to divest from universities and environmental groups led to this policy change.<ref name="Business Insider">{{cite web|author=Valerie Volcovici |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/r-bank-of-americas-new-policy-to-limit-credit-exposure-to-coal--2015-5 |title=Bank of America's new policy to limit credit exposure to coal |work=[[Business Insider]] |date=May 6, 2015 |accessdate=September 29, 2015}}</ref> |
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==Notable buildings== |
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[[File:Bank of America Atlanta 1.jpg|thumb|[[Bank of America Plaza (Atlanta)|Bank of America Plaza]], the tallest building in Atlanta]] |
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[[File:Bank of America Stadium.jpg|thumb|[[Bank of America Stadium]], home to the [[Carolina Panthers]] of the [[NFL]] ]] |
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Notable buildings which Bank of America currently occupies include: |
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<!-- Alphabetized by state. Please only include "blue links" to ensure notability. --> |
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* [[Bank of America Tower (Phoenix)|Bank of America Tower]] in [[Phoenix, Arizona]] |
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* [[Bank of America Center (Los Angeles)|Bank of America Center]] in Los Angeles |
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* [[Transamerica Pyramid]], in San Francisco <!--See [[Transamerica_Pyramid#Tenants]]--> |
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* [[555 California Street]], formerly the Bank of America Center and world headquarters, in San Francisco |
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* [[Bank of America Plaza (Fort Lauderdale)|Bank of America Plaza]] in [[Fort Lauderdale, Florida]] |
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* [[Bank of America Tower (Jacksonville)|Bank of America Tower]] in [[Jacksonville, Florida]] |
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* [[701 Brickell Avenue|Bank of America Financial Center]] ([[Brickell]]) and [[Museum Tower (Miami)|Bank of America Museum Tower]] ([[Downtown Miami]]) in [[Miami, Florida]] |
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* [[Bank of America Center (Orlando)|Bank of America Center]] in [[Orlando, Florida]] |
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* [[Bank of America Tower (Saint Petersburg)|Bank of America Tower]] in [[St. Petersburg, Florida]] |
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* [[Bank of America Plaza (Tampa)|Bank of America Plaza]] in [[Tampa, Florida]] |
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* [[Bank of America Plaza (Atlanta)|Bank of America Plaza]] in [[Atlanta]], Georgia |
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* [[LaSalle National Bank Building|Bank of America Building]], formerly the LaSalle Bank Building in Chicago, Illinois |
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* [[One City Center (Portland)|One City Center]], often called the Bank of America building due to signage rights, in [[Portland, Maine]] |
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* [[Bank of America Building (Baltimore)|Bank of America Building]] in [[Baltimore]], Maryland |
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* [[Bank of America Plaza (St. Louis)|Bank of America Plaza]] in [[St Louis, Missouri]] |
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* [[Bank of America Tower (Albuquerque)|Bank of America Tower]] in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]] |
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* [[Bank of America Tower (New York City)|Bank of America Tower]] in New York City |
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* [[Bank of America Corporate Center]] in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]] (the corporate headquarters) |
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* [[Bank of America Plaza (Charlotte)|Bank of America Plaza]] in Charlotte, North Carolina |
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* [[Bank of America Plaza (Dallas)|Bank of America Plaza]] in [[Dallas]], Texas |
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* [[Bank of America Center (Houston)|Bank of America Center]] in [[Houston]], Texas |
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* [[Bank of America Building (Midland)|Bank of America Tower]] in [[Midland, Texas]] |
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* [[Bank of America Plaza (San Antonio)|Bank of America Plaza]] in [[San Antonio]], Texas |
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* [[Bank of America Fifth Avenue Plaza]] in [[Seattle]], Washington |
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* [[Columbia Center]] in Seattle, Washington |
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* [[Bank of America Tower (Hong Kong)|Bank of America Tower]] in Hong Kong |
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* [[City Place I]], also known as United Healthcare Center, in [[Hartford, Connecticut]] (the tallest building in Connecticut) |
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* [[9454 Wilshire Boulevard]] in [[Beverly Hills, California]] |
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===Former buildings=== |
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The [[Robert B. Atwood Building]] in [[Anchorage, Alaska]] was at one time named the Bank of America Center, renamed in conjunction with the bank's acquisition of building tenant Security Pacific Bank. This particular branch was later acquired by Alaska-based Northrim Bank and moved across the street to the [[Linny Pacillo Parking Garage]]. |
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The [[Bank of America Building (Providence)]] opened in 1928 as the Industrial Trust Building and remains the tallest building in Rhode Island. Through a number of mergers it was later known as the Industrial National Bank building and the Fleet Bank building. The building was leased by Bank of America from 2004 to 2012 and has been vacant since March 2013. The building is commonly known as the Superman Building based on a popular belief that it was the model for the [[Daily Planet]] building in the [[Superman]] comic books. |
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The [[Miami Tower]] iconic in its appearance in ''[[Miami Vice]]'' was known as the Bank of America Tower for many years. It is located in [[Downtown Miami]]. On April 18, 2012, the AIA's Florida Chapter placed it on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places as the Bank of America Tower.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.aiaflatop100.org/Current-Standings.cfm| title=Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places| publisher=AIA Florida}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
Revision as of 16:29, 7 May 2018
Company type | Public |
---|---|
ISIN | US0605051046 |
Industry | Banking, financial services |
Predecessor | Bank America NationsBank |
Founded | October 17, 1904 November 3, 1930 (as Bank of America)[1][2] October 2000 (current) | (as Bank of Italy)
Founder | Amadeo Giannini |
Headquarters | Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. |
Number of locations | 4,600 retail financial centers & approximately 15,900 automated teller machines[3] |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Brian Moynihan (Chairman and CEO) |
Products | Consumer banking, corporate banking, insurance, investment banking, mortgage loans, private banking, private equity, wealth management, credit cards, |
Revenue | US$87.352 billion (2017)[3] |
18,995,000,000 United States dollar (2020) | |
US$18.232 billion (2017)[3] | |
Total assets | US$2.281 trillion (2017)[3] |
Total equity | US$267.146 billion (2017)[3] |
Number of employees | 209,000 (2017)[3] |
Divisions | Bank of America Home Loans, Bank of America Merrill Lynch |
Subsidiaries | Merrill Lynch Merrill Edge U.S. Trust |
Capital ratio | 11.8% (2017)[3] |
Rating | Long Term Senior Moody's: Baa1 (10/2016) S&P: BBB+ (10/2016) Fitch: A (10/2016) |
Website | bankofamerica.com |
Bank of America Corporation (abbreviated as BofA)[4] is an American multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is ranked 2nd on the list of largest banks in the United States by assets.[5] As of 2016, Bank of America was the 26th largest company in the United States by total revenue. In 2016, it was ranked #11 on the Forbes Magazine Global 2000 list of largest companies in the world.[6]
Its acquisition of Merrill Lynch in 2008 solidified it as a "Bulge Bracket Bank", becoming the world's largest wealth management corporation and a major player in the investment banking market.[7] As of December 31, 2017, it had US$1.081 trillion in assets under management (AUM).[3]
As of December 31, 2016, the company held 10.73% of all bank deposits in the United States.[8] It is one of the Big Four banks in the United States, along with Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo—its main competitors.[9][10] Bank of America operates—but does not necessarily maintain retail branches[11]—in all 50 states of the United States, the District of Columbia and more than 40 other countries. It has a retail banking footprint that serves approximately 46 million consumer and small business relationships at 4,600 banking centers and 15,900 automated teller machines (ATMs).
Bank of America provides its products and services through 4,600 retail financial centers, approximately 15,900 automated teller machines,[3] call centers, and online and mobile banking platforms. The bank's Consumer Real Estate Services segment offers consumer real estate products comprising both fixed and adjustable-rate first-lien mortgage loans for home purchase and refinancing needs, home equity lines of credit, and home equity loans.[12]
Bank of America has been the subject of many lawsuits and investigations regarding both mortgages and financial disclosures dating back to the financial crisis, including a record settlement of $16.65 billion on August 21, 2014.[13]
History
Bank of Italy
The history of Bank of America dates back to October 17, 1904,[1] when Amadeo Pietro Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in San Francisco. The Bank of Italy served the needs of many immigrants settling in the United States at that time, providing services denied to them by the existing American banks which typically discriminated against them and often denied service to all but the wealthiest.[14] Giannini was raised by his mother and stepfather Lorenzo Scatena, as his father was fatally shot over a pay dispute with an employee.[15] When the 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck, Giannini was able to save all deposits out of the bank building and away from the fires. Because San Francisco's banks were in smoldering ruins and unable to open their vaults, Giannini was able to use the rescued funds to commence lending within a few days of the disaster. From a makeshift desk consisting of a few planks over two barrels, he lent money to those who wished to rebuild.[16][17][18]
In 1922, Giannini established Bank of America and Italy. In 1986, Deutsche Bank AG acquired 100% of Banca d'America e d'Italia, a bank established in Naples in 1917 following the name-change of Banca dell'Italia Meridionale with the latter established in 1918. In 1918 another corporation, Bancitaly Corporation, was organized by A. P. Giannini, the largest stockholder of which was Stockholders Auxiliary Corporation. This company acquired the stocks of various banks located in New York City and certain foreign countries.[19]
In 1928, Giannini merged his bank with Bank of America, Los Angeles, headed by Orra E. Monnette and consolidated it with other bank holdings to create what would become the largest banking institution in the country. Bank of Italy was renamed on November 3, 1930, to Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association, which was the only such designated bank in the United States of America at that time. Giannini and Monnette headed the resulting company, serving as co-chairs.[citation needed]
Expansion in California
Branch banking was introduced by Giannini shortly after 1909 legislation in California that allowed for branch banking in the state. Its first branch outside San Francisco was established in 1909 in San Jose. By 1929, the bank had 453 banking offices in California with aggregate resources of over US$1.4 billion.[20] There is a replica of the 1909 Bank of Italy branch bank in History Park in San Jose, and the 1925 Bank of Italy Building is an important downtown landmark. Giannini sought to build a national bank, expanding into most of the western states as well as into the insurance industry, under the aegis of his holding company, Transamerica Corporation. In 1953, regulators succeeded in forcing the separation of Transamerica Corporation and Bank of America under the Clayton Antitrust Act.[21] The passage of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 prohibited banks from owning non-banking subsidiaries such as insurance companies. Bank of America and Transamerica were separated, with the latter company continuing in the insurance business. However, federal banking regulators prohibited Bank of America's interstate banking activity, and Bank of America's domestic banks outside California were forced into a separate company that eventually became First Interstate Bancorp, later acquired by Wells Fargo and Company in 1996. It was not until the 1980s, with a change in federal banking legislation and regulation, that Bank of America was again able to expand its domestic consumer banking activity outside California.
New technologies also allowed credit cards to be linked directly to individual bank accounts. In 1958, the bank introduced the BankAmericard, which changed its name to Visa in 1977.[22] A consortium of other California banks introduced Master Charge (now MasterCard) to compete with BankAmericard.
Expansion outside California
Following the passage of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, BankAmerica Corporation was established for the purpose of owning and operation of Bank of America and its subsidiaries.
Bank of America expanded outside California in 1983, with its acquisition, orchestrated in part by Stephen McLin, of Seafirst Corporation of Seattle, Washington, and its wholly owned banking subsidiary, Seattle-First National Bank. Seafirst was at risk of seizure by the federal government after becoming insolvent due to a series of bad loans to the oil industry. BankAmerica continued to operate its new subsidiary as Seafirst rather than Bank of America until the 1998 merger with NationsBank.
BankAmerica experienced huge losses in 1986 and 1987 by the placement of a series of bad loans in the Third World, particularly in Latin America. The company fired its CEO, Sam Armacost. Though Armacost blamed the problems on his predecessor, A.W. (Tom) Clausen, Clausen was appointed to replace Armacost. The losses resulted in a huge decline of BankAmerica stock, making it vulnerable to a hostile takeover. First Interstate Bancorp of Los Angeles (which had originated from banks once owned by BankAmerica), launched such a bid in the fall of 1986, although BankAmerica rebuffed it, mostly by selling operations. It sold its FinanceAmerica subsidiary to Chrysler and the brokerage firm Charles Schwab and Co. back to Mr. Schwab. It also sold Bank of America and Italy to Deutsche Bank. By the time of the 1987 stock market crash, BankAmerica's share price had fallen to $8, but by 1992 it had rebounded mightily to become one of the biggest gainers of that half-decade.
BankAmerica's next big acquisition came in 1992. The company acquired its California rival, Security Pacific Corporation and its subsidiary Security Pacific National Bank in California and other banks in Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington (which Security Pacific had acquired in a series of acquisitions in the late 1980s). This was, at the time, the largest bank acquisition in history. Federal regulators, however, forced the sale of roughly half of Security Pacific's Washington subsidiary, the former Rainier Bank, as the combination of Seafirst and Security Pacific Washington would have given BankAmerica too large a share of the market in that state. The Washington branches were divided and sold to West One Bancorp (now U.S. Bancorp) and KeyBank.[23] Later that year, BankAmerica expanded into Nevada by acquiring Valley Bank of Nevada.
In 1994, BankAmerica acquired the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago, which had become federally owned as part of the same oil industry debacle emanating from Oklahoma City's Penn Square Bank, that had brought down numerous financial institutions including Seafirst. At the time, no bank possessed the resources to bail out Continental, so the federal government operated the bank for nearly a decade. Illinois at that time regulated branch banking extremely heavily, so Bank of America Illinois was a single-unit bank until the 21st century. BankAmerica moved its national lending department to Chicago in an effort to establish a financial beachhead in the region.
These mergers helped BankAmerica Corporation to once again become the largest U.S. bank holding company in terms of deposits, but the company fell to second place in 1997 behind North Carolina's fast-growing NationsBank Corporation, and to third in 1998 First Union Corp.
On the capital markets side, the acquisition of Continental Illinois helped BankAmerica to build a leveraged finance origination and distribution business (Continental Illinois had extensive leveraged lending relationships) which allowed the firm's existing broker-dealer, BancAmerica Securities (originally named BA Securities), to become a full-service franchise.[24][25] In addition, in 1997, BankAmerica acquired Robertson Stephens, a San Francisco–based investment bank specializing in high technology for $540 million. Robertson Stephens was integrated into BancAmerica Securities and the combined subsidiary was renamed BancAmerica Robertson Stephens.[26]
Merger of NationsBank and BankAmerica
In 1997, Bank of America lent D. E. Shaw & Co., a large hedge fund, $1.4 billion in order to run various businesses for the bank.[27] However, D.E. Shaw suffered significant loss after the 1998 Russia bond default.[28][29] NationsBank of Charlotte acquired BankAmerica in October 1998 in what was the largest bank acquisition in history at that time.[30]
While NationsBank was the nominal survivor, the merged bank took the better-known name of Bank of America. Hence, the holding company was renamed Bank of America Corporation, while NationsBank, N.A. merged with Bank of America NT&SA to form Bank of America, N.A. as the remaining legal bank entity. The combined bank still operates under Federal Charter 13044, which was granted to Giannini's Bank of Italy on March 1, 1927. However, the merged company is headquartered in Charlotte and retains NationsBank's pre-1998 stock price history. Additionally, all U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings before 1998 are listed under NationsBank, not Bank of America. NationsBank president, chairman and CEO Hugh McColl took on the same roles with the merged company.
Bank of America possessed combined assets of $570 billion, as well as 4,800 branches in 22 states. Despite the mammoth size of the two companies, federal regulators insisted only upon the divestiture of 13 branches in New Mexico, in towns that would be left with only a single bank following the combination. (Branch divestitures are only required if the combined company will have a larger than 25% Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) deposit market share in a particular state or 10% deposit market share overall.) In addition, the combined broker-dealer, created from the integration of BancAmerica Robertson Stephens and NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, was named Banc of America Securities in 1998.[31]
2001 to present
In 2001, McColl stepped down and named Ken Lewis as his successor.
In 2004, Bank of America announced it would purchase Boston-based bank FleetBoston Financial for $47 billion in cash and stock.[32] By merging with Bank of America, all of its banks and branches were given the Bank of America logo. At the time of merger, FleetBoston was the seventh largest bank in United States with $197 billion in assets, over 20 million customers and revenue of $12 billion.[32] Hundreds of FleetBoston workers lost their jobs or were demoted, according to The Boston Globe.
On June 30, 2005, Bank of America announced it would purchase credit card giant MBNA for $35 billion in cash and stock. The Federal Reserve Board gave final approval to the merger on December 15, 2005, and the merger closed on January 1, 2006. The acquisition of MBNA provided Bank of America a leading domestic and foreign credit card issuer. The combined Bank of America Card Services organization, including the former MBNA, had more than 40 million U.S. accounts and nearly $140 billion in outstanding balances. Under Bank of America the operation was renamed FIA Card Services.
Bank of America operated under the name BankBoston in many other Latin American countries, including Brazil. In 2006, Bank of America sold BankBoston's operations to Brazilian bank Banco Itaú, in exchange for Itaú shares. The BankBoston name and trademarks were not part of the transaction and, as part of the sale agreement, cannot be used by Bank of America (ending the BankBoston brand).
In May 2006, Bank of America and Banco Itaú (Investimentos Itaú S.A.) entered into an acquisition agreement through which Itaú agreed to acquire BankBoston's operations in Brazil and was granted an exclusive right to purchase Bank of America's operations in Chile and Uruguay. The deal was signed in August 2006 under which Itaú agreed to purchase Bank of America's operations in Chile and Uruguay. Prior to the transaction, BankBoston's Brazilian operations included asset management, private banking, a credit card portfolio, and small, middle-market, and large corporate segments. It had 66 branches and 203,000 clients in Brazil. BankBoston in Chile had 44 branches and 58,000 clients and in Uruguay it had 15 branches. In addition, there was a credit card company, OCA, in Uruguay, which had 23 branches. BankBoston N.A. in Uruguay, together with OCA, jointly served 372,000 clients. While the BankBoston name and trademarks were not part of the transaction, as part of the sale agreement, they cannot be used by Bank of America in Brazil, Chile or Uruguay following the transactions. Hence, the BankBoston name has disappeared from Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. The Itaú stock received by Bank of America in the transactions has allowed Bank of America's stake in Itaú to reach 11.51%. Banco de Boston de Brazil had been founded in 1947.
On November 20, 2006, Bank of America announced the purchase of The United States Trust Company for $3.3 billion, from the Charles Schwab Corporation. US Trust had about $100 billion of assets under management and over 150 years of experience. The deal closed July 1, 2007.[33]
On September 14, 2007, Bank of America won approval from the Federal Reserve to acquire LaSalle Bank Corporation from ABN AMRO for $21 billion. With this purchase, Bank of America possessed $1.7 trillion in assets. A Dutch court blocked the sale until it was later approved in July. The acquisition was completed on October 1, 2007. Many of LaSalle's branches and offices had already taken over smaller regional banks within the previous decade, such as Lansing and Detroit based Michigan National Bank.
The deal increased Bank of America's presence in Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana by 411 branches, 17,000 commercial bank clients, 1.4 million retail customers, and 1,500 ATMs. Bank of America became the largest bank in the Chicago market with 197 offices and 14% of the deposit share, surpassing JPMorgan Chase.
LaSalle Bank and LaSalle Bank Midwest branches adopted the Bank of America name on May 5, 2008.[34]
Ken Lewis, who had lost the title of Chairman of the Board, announced that he would retire as CEO effective December 31, 2009, in part due to controversy and legal investigations concerning the purchase of Merrill Lynch. Brian Moynihan became President and CEO effective January 1, 2010, and afterward credit card charge offs and delinquencies declined in January. Bank of America also repaid the $45 billion it had received from the Troubled Assets Relief Program.[35][36]
Acquisition of Countrywide Financial
On August 23, 2007, the company announced a $2 billion repurchase agreement for Countrywide Financial. This purchase of preferred stock was arranged to provide a return on investment of 7.25% per annum and provided the option to purchase common stock at a price of $18 per share.[37]
On January 11, 2008, Bank of America announced that it would buy Countrywide Financial for $4.1 billion.[38] In March 2008, it was reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was investigating Countrywide for possible fraud relating to home loans and mortgages.[39] This news did not hinder the acquisition, which was completed in July 2008,[40] giving the bank a substantial market share of the mortgage business, and access to Countrywide's resources for servicing mortgages.[41] The acquisition was seen as preventing a potential bankruptcy for Countrywide. Countrywide, however, denied that it was close to bankruptcy. Countrywide provided mortgage servicing for nine million mortgages valued at $1.4 trillion as of December 31, 2007.[42]
This purchase made Bank of America Corporation the leading mortgage originator and servicer in the U.S., controlling 20–25% of the home loan market.[43] The deal was structured to merge Countrywide with the Red Oak Merger Corporation, which Bank of America created as an independent subsidiary. It has been suggested that the deal was structured this way to prevent a potential bankruptcy stemming from large losses in Countrywide hurting the parent organization by keeping Countrywide bankruptcy remote.[44] Countrywide Financial has changed its name to Bank of America Home Loans.
In December 2011, the Justice Department announced a $335 million settlement with Bank of America over discriminatory lending practice at Countrywide Financial. Attorney General Eric Holder said a federal probe found discrimination against qualified African-American and Latino borrowers from 2004 to 2008. He said that minority borrowers who qualified for prime loans were steered into higher-interest-rate subprime loans.[45]
Acquisition of Merrill Lynch
On September 14, 2008, Bank of America announced its intention to purchase Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. in an all-stock deal worth approximately $50 billion. Merrill Lynch was at the time within days of collapse, and the acquisition effectively saved Merrill from bankruptcy.[46] Around the same time Bank of America was reportedly also in talks to purchase Lehman Brothers, however a lack of government guarantees caused the bank to abandon talks with Lehman.[47] Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy the same day Bank of America announced its plans to acquire Merrill Lynch.[48] This acquisition made Bank of America the largest financial services company in the world.[49] Temasek Holdings, the largest shareholder of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., briefly became one of the largest shareholders of Bank of America, with a 3% stake.[50] However, taking a loss Reuters estimated at $3 billion, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund sold its whole stake in Bank of America in the first quarter of 2009.[51]
Shareholders of both companies approved the acquisition on December 5, 2008, and the deal closed January 1, 2009.[52] Bank of America had planned to retain various members of the then Merrill Lynch's CEO, John Thain's management team after the merger.[53] However, after Thain was removed from his position, most of his allies left. The departure of Nelson Chai, who had been named Asia-Pacific president, left just one of Thain's hires in place: Tom Montag, head of sales and trading.[54]
The bank, in its January 16, 2009 earnings release, revealed massive losses at Merrill Lynch in the fourth quarter, which necessitated an infusion of money that had previously been negotiated[55] with the government as part of the government-persuaded deal for the bank to acquire Merrill. Merrill recorded an operating loss of $21.5 billion in the quarter, mainly in its sales and trading operations, led by Tom Montag. The bank also disclosed it tried to abandon the deal in December after the extent of Merrill's trading losses surfaced, but was compelled to complete the merger by the U.S. government. The bank's stock price sank to $7.18, its lowest level in 17 years, after announcing earnings and the Merrill mishap. The market capitalization of Bank of America, including Merrill Lynch, was then $45 billion, less than the $50 billion it offered for Merrill just four months earlier, and down $108 billion from the merger announcement.
Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis testified before Congress[7] that he had some misgivings about the acquisition of Merrill Lynch, and that federal officials pressured him to proceed with the deal or face losing his job and endangering the bank's relationship with federal regulators.[56]
Lewis' statement is backed up by internal emails subpoenaed by Republican lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee.[57] In one of the emails, Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker threatened that if the acquisition did not go through, and later Bank of America were forced to request federal assistance, the management of Bank of America would be "gone". Other emails, read by Congressman Dennis Kucinich during the course of Lewis' testimony, state that Mr. Lewis had foreseen the outrage from his shareholders that the purchase of Merrill would cause, and asked government regulators to issue a letter stating that the government had ordered him to complete the deal to acquire Merrill. Lewis, for his part, states he didn't recall requesting such a letter.
The acquisition made Bank of America the number one underwriter of global high-yield debt, the third largest underwriter of global equity and the ninth largest adviser on global mergers and acquisitions.[58] As the credit crisis eased, losses at Merrill Lynch subsided, and the subsidiary generated $3.7 billion of Bank of America's $4.2 billion in profit by the end of quarter one in 2009, and over 25% in quarter 3 2009.[59][60]
On September 28, 2012, Bank of America settled the class action lawsuit over the Merrill Lynch acquisition and will pay $2.43 billion.[61] This was one of the first major securities class action lawsuits stemming from the financial crisis of 2007–2008 to settle. Many major financial institutions had a stake in this lawsuit, including Chicago Clearing Corporation, hedge funds, and bank trusts, due to the belief that Bank of America stock was a sure investment.
Federal Troubled Asset Relief Program
Bank of America received $20 billion in the federal bailout from the U.S. government through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) on January 16, 2009, and a guarantee of $118 billion in potential losses at the company.[62] This was in addition to the $25 billion given to them in the fall of 2008 through TARP. The additional payment was part of a deal with the U.S. government to preserve Bank of America's merger with the troubled investment firm Merrill Lynch.[63] Since then, members of the U.S. Congress have expressed considerable concern about how this money has been spent, especially since some of the recipients have been accused of misusing the bailout money.[64] Then CEO Ken Lewis was quoted as claiming "We are still lending, and we are lending far more because of the TARP program." Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, however, were skeptical and quoted many anecdotes about loan applicants (particularly small business owners) being denied loans and credit card holders facing stiffer terms on the debt in their card accounts.
According to a March 15, 2009, article in The New York Times, Bank of America received an additional $5.2 billion in government bailout money, channeled through American International Group.[65]
As a result of its federal bailout and management problems, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Bank of America was operating under a secret "memorandum of understanding" (MOU) from the U.S. government that requires it to "overhaul its board and address perceived problems with risk and liquidity management". With the federal action, the institution has taken several steps, including arranging for six of its directors to resign and forming a Regulatory Impact Office. Bank of America faces several deadlines in July and August and if not met, could face harsher penalties by federal regulators. Bank of America did not respond to The Wall Street Journal story.[66]
On December 2, 2009, Bank of America announced it would repay the entire $45 billion it received in TARP and exit the program, using $26.2 billion of excess liquidity along with $18.6 billion to be gained in "common equivalent securities" (Tier 1 capital). The bank announced it had completed the repayment on December 9. Bank of America's Ken Lewis said during the announcement, "We appreciate the critical role that the U.S. government played last fall in helping to stabilize financial markets, and we are pleased to be able to fully repay the investment, with interest.... As America's largest bank, we have a responsibility to make good on the taxpayers' investment, and our record shows that we have been able to fulfill that commitment while continuing to lend."[67][68]
Bonus settlement
On August 3, 2009, Bank of America agreed to pay a $33 million fine, without admission or denial of charges, to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the non-disclosure of an agreement to pay up to $5.8 billion of bonuses at Merrill. The bank approved the bonuses before the merger but did not disclose them to its shareholders when the shareholders were considering approving the Merrill acquisition, in December 2008. The issue was originally investigated by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who commented after the suit and announced settlement that "the timing of the bonuses, as well as the disclosures relating to them, constituted a 'surprising fit of corporate irresponsibility'" and "our investigation of these and other matters pursuant to New York's Martin Act will continue." Congressman Kucinich commented at the same time that "This may not be the last fine that Bank of America pays for how it handled its merger of Merrill Lynch."[69] A federal judge, Jed Rakoff, in an unusual action, refused to approve the settlement on August 5.[70] A first hearing before the judge on August 10 was at times heated, and he was "sharply critic[al]" of the bonuses. David Rosenfeld represented the SEC, and Lewis J. Liman, son of Arthur L. Liman, represented the bank. The actual amount of bonuses paid was $3.6 billion, of which $850 million was "guaranteed" and the rest was shared amongst 39,000 workers who received average payments of $91,000; 696 people received more than $1 million in bonuses; at least one person received a more than $33 million bonus.[71]
On September 14, the judge rejected the settlement and told the parties to prepare for trial to begin no later than February 1, 2010. The judge focused much of his criticism on the fact that the fine in the case would be paid by the bank's shareholders, who were the ones that were supposed to have been injured by the lack of disclosure. He wrote, "It is quite something else for the very management that is accused of having lied to its shareholders to determine how much of those victims’ money should be used to make the case against the management go away," ... "The proposed settlement," the judge continued, "suggests a rather cynical relationship between the parties: the S.E.C. gets to claim that it is exposing wrongdoing on the part of the Bank of America in a high-profile merger; the bank's management gets to claim that they have been coerced into an onerous settlement by overzealous regulators. And all this is done at the expense, not only of the shareholders, but also of the truth."[72]
While ultimately deferring to the SEC, in February 2010, Judge Rakoff approved a revised settlement with a $150 million fine "reluctantly", calling the accord "half-baked justice at best" and "inadequate and misguided". Addressing one of the concerns he raised in September, the fine will be "distributed only to Bank of America shareholders harmed by the non-disclosures, or 'legacy shareholders', an improvement on the prior $33 million while still "paltry", according to the judge. Case: SEC v. Bank of America Corp., 09-cv-06829, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.[73]
Investigations also were held on this issue in the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,[72] under chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY)[74] and in its investigative Domestic Policy Subcommittee under Kucinich.[75]
Fraud
In 2010, the U.S. government accused the bank of defrauding schools, hospitals, and dozens of state and local government organizations via misconduct and illegal activities involving the investment of proceeds from municipal bond sales. As a result, the bank agreed to pay $137.7 million, including $25 million to the Internal Revenue service and $4.5 million to state attorney general, to the affected organizations to settle the allegations.[76]
Former bank official Douglas Campbell pleaded guilty to antitrust, conspiracy and wire fraud charges. As of January 2011, other bankers and brokers are under indictment or investigation.[77]
On October 24, 2012, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan filed a lawsuit alleging that Bank of America fraudulently cost American taxpayers more than $1 billion when Countrywide Financial sold toxic mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The scheme was called 'Hustle', or High Speed Swim Lane.[78][79] On May 23, 2016 the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the finding of fact by the jury that low quality mortgages were supplied by Countrywide to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the "Hustle" case supported only "intentional breach of contract," not fraud. The action, for civil fraud, relied on provisions of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act. The decision turned on lack of intent to defraud at the time the contract to supply mortgages was made.[80]
Downsizing (2011 to 2014)
During 2011, Bank of America began conducting personnel reductions of an estimated 36,000 people, contributing to intended savings of $5 billion per year by 2014.[81]
In December 2011, Forbes ranked Bank of America's financial health 91st out of the nation's largest 100 banks and thrift institutions.[82]
Bank of America cut around 16,000 jobs in a quicker fashion by the end of 2012 as revenue continued to decline because of new regulations and a slow economy. This put a plan one year ahead of time to eliminate 30,000 jobs under a cost-cutting program, called Project New BAC.[83] In the first quarter of 2014, Berkshire bank purchased 20 Bank of America branches in Central and eastern New York for 14.4 million dollars. The branches were from Utica/Rome region and down the Mohawk Valley east to the capital region.
In April and May 2014, Bank of America sold two dozen branches in Michigan to Huntington Bancshares. The locations were converted to Huntington National Bank branches in September.[84]
As part of its new strategy Bank of America is focused on growing its mobile banking platform. As of 2014, Bank of America has 31 million active online users and 16 million mobile users. Its retail banking branches have decreased to 4,900 as a result of increased mobile banking use and a decline in customer branch visits.
Sale of stake in China Construction Bank
In 2005, Bank of America acquired a 9% stake in China Construction Bank, one of the Big Four banks in China, for $3 billion.[85] It represented the company's largest foray into China's growing banking sector. Bank of America has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Guangzhou and was looking to greatly expand its Chinese business as a result of this deal. In 2008, Bank of America was awarded Project Finance Deal of the Year at the 2008 ALB Hong Kong Law Awards.[86] In November 2011, Bank of America announced plans to divest most of its stake in the China Construction Bank.[87]
In September 2013, Bank of America sold its remaining stake in the China Construction Bank for as much as $1.5 billion, marking the firm's full exit from the country.[88]
$17 billion settlement with Justice Department
In August 2014, Bank of America agreed to a near-$17 billion deal to settle claims against it relating to the sale of toxic mortgage-linked securities including subprime home loans, in what was believed to be the largest settlement in U.S. corporate history. The bank agreed with the U.S. Justice Department to pay $9.65 billion in fines, and $7 billion in relief to the victims of the faulty loans which included homeowners, borrowers, pension funds and municipalities.[89] Real estate economist Jed Kolko said the settlement is a "drop in the bucket" compared to the $700 billion in damages done to 11 million homeowners. Since the settlement covered such a substantial portion of the market, he said for most consumers "you're out of luck."[90]
Much of the government's prosecution was based on information provided by three whistleblowers – Shareef Abdou (a senior vice president at the bank), Robert Madsen (a professional appraiser employed by a bank subsidiary) and Edward O'Donnell (a Fannie Mae official). The three men received $170 million in whistleblower awards.[91]
DOD Community Bank
Bank of America has formed a partnership with the United States Department of Defense creating a newly chartered bank DOD Community Bank[92] ("Community Bank") providing full banking services to military personnel at 68 branches and ATM locations[93] on U.S. military installations in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Cuba, Diego Garcia, Germany, Japan, Italy, Kwajalein Atoll, South Korea, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It should be noted that even though Bank of America operates Community Bank customer services are not interchangeable between the two financial institutions,[94] meaning a Community Bank customer cannot go to a Bank of America branch and withdraw from their account and vice versa. Deposits made into checking and savings accounts are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation up to $250,000 despite the fact that none of Community's operating branches are located within the jurisdictional borders of the United States.
Decision Not to Finance Makers of Military-Style Guns
In April 2018, Bank of America announced that it would stop providing financing to makers of military-style weapons such as the AR-15 rifle.[95] In announcing the decision, Bank of America referenced recent mass shootings and said that it wanted to "contribute in any way we can" to reduce them.
Introduction of Erica
At the Money 20/20 conference in October 2016, retail banking president Thong Nguyen introduced a digital assistant called Erica, whose name comes from the bank name. Starting in 2017, customers will be able to use voice or text to communicate with Erica and get advice, check balances and pay bills. Unlike the people who work for the bank, Erica will be available 24/7. Digital banking head Michelle Moore said the technology was designed to help customers do a better job of managing money.
Forrester analyst Peter Wannemacher says bank customer experiences with the technology have been "uneven or poor," but Bank of America intends to adapt Erica as needed.
Operations
Bank of America generates 90% of its revenues in its domestic market. The core of Bank of America's strategy is to be the number one bank in its domestic market. It has achieved this through key acquisitions.[96]
Consumer Banking
Consumer Banking, the largest division in the company, provides financial services to consumers and small businesses including, banking, investments and lending products including business loans, mortgages, and credit cards. It provides for investing online through its electronic trading platform, Merrill Edge. The consumer banking division represented 38% of the company's total revenue in 2016.[3] The company earns revenue from interest income, service charges, and fees. The company is also a mortgage servicer. It competes primarily with the retail banking arms of America's three other megabanks: Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo. The Consumer Banking organization includes over 4,600 retail financial centers and approximately 15,900 automated teller machines.
Bank of America is a member of the Global ATM Alliance, a joint venture of several major international banks that provides for reduced fees for consumers using their ATM card or check card at another bank within the Global ATM Alliance when traveling internationally. This feature is restricted to withdrawals using a debit card and users are still subject to foreign currency conversion fees, credit card withdrawals are still subject to cash advance fees and foreign currency conversion fees.
Global Banking
The Global Banking division provides banking services, including investment banking and lending products to businesses. It includes the businesses of Global Corporate Banking, Global Commercial Banking, Business Banking, and Global Investment Banking. The division represented 22% of the company's revenue in 2016.[3]
Before Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch, the Global Corporate and Investment Banking (GCIB) business operated as Banc of America Securities LLC. The bank's investment banking activities operate under the Merrill Lynch subsidiary and provided mergers and acquisitions advisory, underwriting, capital markets, as well as sales & trading in fixed income and equities markets. Its strongest groups include Leveraged Finance, Syndicated Loans, and mortgage-backed securities. It also has one of the largest research teams on Wall Street. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is headquartered in New York City.
Global Wealth and Investment Management
The Global Wealth and Investment Management (GWIM) division manages investment assets of institutions and individuals. It includes the businesses of Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and U.S. Trust and represented 21% of the company's total revenue in 2016.[3] It is among the 10 largest U.S. wealth managers. It has over $2.5 trillion in client balances.[3] GWIM has five primary lines of business: Premier Banking & Investments (including Bank of America Investment Services, Inc.), The Private Bank, Family Wealth Advisors, and Bank of America Specialist.
Global Markets
The Global Markets division offers services to institutional clients, including trading in financial securities. The division provides research and other services such as market maker and risk management using derivatives. The division represented 19% of the company's total revenues in 2016.[3]
Offices
The Bank of America principal executive offices are located in the Bank of America Corporate Center, Charlotte, North Carolina. The skyscraper is located at 100 North Tryon Street, and stands at 871 ft (265 m), having been completed in 1992.
In 2012, Bank of America cut ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).[97]
International offices
Bank of America's Global Corporate and Investment Banking has its U.S. headquarters in New York, European headquarters in London, and Asian headquarters in Hong Kong and Singapore.[98]
Charitable efforts
In 2007, the bank offered employees a $3,000 rebate for the purchase of hybrid vehicles. The company also provided a $1,000 rebate or a lower interest rate for customers whose homes qualified as energy efficient.[99] In 2007, Bank of America partnered with Brighter Planet to offer an eco-friendly credit card, and later a debit card, which help build renewable energy projects with each purchase.[100] In 2010, the bank completed construction of the 1 Bank of America Center in Charlotte center city. The tower, and accompanying hotel, is a LEED-certified building.[101]
Bank of America has also donated money to help health centers in Massachusetts[102] and made a $1 million donation in 2007 to help homeless shelters in Miami.[103]
In 1998, the bank made a ten-year commitment of $350 billion to provide affordable mortgage, build affordable housing, support small business and create jobs in disadvantaged neighborhoods.[104]
In 2004, the bank pledged $750 million over a ten-year period for community development lending and affordable housing programs.[105]
Lawsuits
In August 2011, Bank of America was sued for $10 billion by American International Group. Another lawsuit filed in September 2011 pertained to $57.5 billion in mortgage-backed securities Bank of America sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.[106] That December, Bank of America agreed to pay $335 million to settle a federal government claim that Countrywide Financial had discriminated against Hispanic and African-American homebuyers from 2004 to 2008, prior to being acquired by BofA.[107] In September 2012, BofA settled out of court for $2.4 billion in a class action lawsuit filed by BofA shareholders who felt they were misled about the purchase of Merrill Lynch.
On February 9, 2012, it was announced that the five largest mortgage servicers (Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo) agreed to a historic settlement with the federal government and 49 states.[108] The settlement, known as the National Mortgage Settlement (NMS), required the servicers to provide about $26 billion in relief to distressed homeowners and in direct payments to the states and federal government. This settlement amount makes the NMS the second largest civil settlement in U.S. history, only trailing the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.[109] The five banks were also required to comply with 305 new mortgage servicing standards. Oklahoma held out and agreed to settle with the banks separately.
On October 24, 2012, American federal prosecutors filed a $1 billion civil lawsuit against Bank of America for mortgage fraud under the False Claims Act, which provides for possible penalties of triple the damages suffered. The government asserted that Countrywide, which was acquired by Bank of America, rubber-stamped mortgage loans to risky borrowers and forced taxpayers to guarantee billions of bad loans through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The suit was filed by Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, the inspector general of FHFA and the special inspector for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.[110] In March 2014, Bank of America settled the suit by agreeing to pay $6.3 billion to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and to buy back around $3.2 billion worth of mortgage bonds.[111]
In April 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered Bank of America to provide and estimated $727 million in relief to consumers harmed by practices related to credit card add-on products. According to the Bureau, roughly 1.4 million customers were affected by deceptive marketing of add-on products and 1.9 million customers were illegally charged for credit monitoring and reporting services they were not receiving. The deceptive marketing misconduct involved telemarketing scripts containing misstatements and off-script sales pitches made by telemarketers that were misleading and omitted pertinent information. The unfair billing practices involved billing customers for privacy related products without having the authorization necessary to perform the credit monitoring and credit report retrieval services. As a result, the company billed customers for services they did not receive, unfairly charged consumers for interest and fees, illegally charged approximately 1.9 million accounts, and failed to provide the product benefit.[112]
A $7.5 million settlement was reached in April 2014 with former chief financial officer for Bank of America, Joe L. Price, over allegations that the bank's management withheld material information related to its 2008 merger with Merrill Lynch.[113] In August 2014, the United States Department of Justice and the bank agreed to a $16.65 billion agreement over the sale of risky, mortgage-backed securities before the Great Recession; the loans behind the securities were transferred to the company when it acquired banks such as Merrill Lynch and Countrywide in 2008.[114] As a whole, the three firms provided $965 billion of mortgage-backed securities from 2004–2008.[115] The settlement was structured to give $7 billion in consumer relief and $9.65 billion in penalty payments to the federal government and state governments; California, for instance, received $300 million to recompense public pension funds.[114][116] The settlement was the largest in United States history between a single company and the federal government.[117][118]
A lawsuit has been filed against Bank of America by a former senior executive, Omeed Malik, who was accused of sexual harassment. Malik filed a defamation claim against the bank and is seeking damages of more than $100 million.[119]
Controversies
Parmalat controversy
Parmalat SpA is a multinational Italian dairy and food corporation. Following Parmalat's 2003 bankruptcy, the company sued Bank of America for $10 billion, alleging the bank profited from its knowledge of Parmalat's financial difficulties. The parties announced a settlement in July 2009, resulting in Bank of America paying Parmalat $98.5 million in October 2009.[120][121] In a related case, on April 18, 2011, an Italian court acquitted Bank of America and three other large banks, along with their employees, of charges they assisted Parmalat in concealing its fraud, and of lacking sufficient internal controls to prevent such frauds. Prosecutors did not immediately say whether they would appeal the rulings. In Parma, the banks were still charged with covering up the fraud.[122]
Consumer credit controversies
In January 2008, Bank of America began notifying some customers without payment problems that their interest rates were more than doubled, up to 28%. The bank was criticized for raising rates on customers in good standing, and for declining to explain why it had done so.[123][124] In September 2009, a Bank of America credit card customer, Ann Minch, posted a video on YouTube criticizing the bank for raising her interest rate. After the video went viral, she was contacted by a Bank of America representative who lowered her rate. The story attracted national attention from television and internet commentators.[125][126][127] More recently, the bank has been criticized for allegedly seizing three properties that were not under their ownership, apparently due to incorrect addresses on their legal documents.[128]
WikiLeaks
In October 2009, Julian Assange of WikiLeaks claimed that his organization possessed a 5 gigabyte hard drive formerly used by a Bank of America executive and that Wikileaks intended to publish its contents.[129]
In November 2010, Forbes published an interview with Assange in which he stated his intent to publish information which would turn a major U.S. bank "inside out".[130] In response to this announcement, Bank of America stock dropped 3.2%.[131]
In December 2010, Bank of America announced that it would no longer service requests to transfer funds to WikiLeaks,[132] stating that "Bank of America joins in the actions previously announced by MasterCard, PayPal, Visa Europe and others and will not process transactions of any type that we have reason to believe are intended for WikiLeaks... This decision is based upon our reasonable belief that WikiLeaks may be engaged in activities that are, among other things, inconsistent with our internal policies for processing payments."[133]
Later in December, it was announced that Bank of America purchased more than 300 Internet domain names in an attempt to preempt bad publicity that might be forthcoming in the anticipated WikiLeaks release. The domain names included as BrianMoynihanBlows.com, BrianMoynihanSucks.com and similar names for other top executives of the bank.[134][135][136][137]
Sometime before August 2011, WikiLeaks claimed that 5 GB of Bank of America leaks was part of the deletion of over 3500 communications by Daniel Domscheit-Berg, a now ex-WikiLeaks volunteer.[138][139]
Anonymous
On March 14, 2011, one or more members of the decentralized collective Anonymous began releasing emails it said were obtained from Bank of America. According to the group, the emails documented "corruption and fraud", and relate to the issue of improper foreclosures. The source, identified publicly as Brian Penny,[140] was a former LPI Specialist from Balboa Insurance, a firm which used to be owned by the bank, but was sold to Australian Reinsurance Company QBE.[141]
Mortgage business
In 2010 the state of Arizona launched an investigation into Bank of America for misleading homeowners who sought to modify their mortgage loans. According to the attorney general of Arizona, the bank "repeatedly has deceived" such mortgagors. In response to the investigation, the bank has given some modifications on the condition that the homeowners refrain from criticizing the bank. In 2011 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general claimed that the bank was blocking access to employees and data in order to slow down an investigation into its alleged misdeeds.[142]
Accounts of Iranians frozen
In May 2014 many Iranian students in the U.S. and some American-Iranian citizens realized their accounts have been frozen by Bank of America.[143] Although Bank of America denied to reveal any information or reason regarding this, some Iranians believe that it is related to sanctions against Iran.[144] Although most account holders say they did not receive any notification prior their accounts being frozen, Bank of America insists that they do not freeze any account without prior notification.[145]
Investment in mountaintop removal
Bank of America has been criticized for its heavy investment in the environmentally damaging processes of coal mining, especially through mountaintop removal (MTR).[146] On May 6, 2015, the company announced that it would "reduce [its] credit exposure ... to the coal mining industry," i.e. reduce its financing of companies engaging in MTR, coal mining, and coal power production. The company stated that pressure to divest from universities and environmental groups led to this policy change.[147]
Notable buildings
Notable buildings which Bank of America currently occupies include:
- Bank of America Tower in Phoenix, Arizona
- Bank of America Center in Los Angeles
- Transamerica Pyramid, in San Francisco
- 555 California Street, formerly the Bank of America Center and world headquarters, in San Francisco
- Bank of America Plaza in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Bank of America Tower in Jacksonville, Florida
- Bank of America Financial Center (Brickell) and Bank of America Museum Tower (Downtown Miami) in Miami, Florida
- Bank of America Center in Orlando, Florida
- Bank of America Tower in St. Petersburg, Florida
- Bank of America Plaza in Tampa, Florida
- Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta, Georgia
- Bank of America Building, formerly the LaSalle Bank Building in Chicago, Illinois
- One City Center, often called the Bank of America building due to signage rights, in Portland, Maine
- Bank of America Building in Baltimore, Maryland
- Bank of America Plaza in St Louis, Missouri
- Bank of America Tower in Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Bank of America Tower in New York City
- Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina (the corporate headquarters)
- Bank of America Plaza in Charlotte, North Carolina
- Bank of America Plaza in Dallas, Texas
- Bank of America Center in Houston, Texas
- Bank of America Tower in Midland, Texas
- Bank of America Plaza in San Antonio, Texas
- Bank of America Fifth Avenue Plaza in Seattle, Washington
- Columbia Center in Seattle, Washington
- Bank of America Tower in Hong Kong
- City Place I, also known as United Healthcare Center, in Hartford, Connecticut (the tallest building in Connecticut)
- 9454 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California
Former buildings
The Robert B. Atwood Building in Anchorage, Alaska was at one time named the Bank of America Center, renamed in conjunction with the bank's acquisition of building tenant Security Pacific Bank. This particular branch was later acquired by Alaska-based Northrim Bank and moved across the street to the Linny Pacillo Parking Garage.
The Bank of America Building (Providence) opened in 1928 as the Industrial Trust Building and remains the tallest building in Rhode Island. Through a number of mergers it was later known as the Industrial National Bank building and the Fleet Bank building. The building was leased by Bank of America from 2004 to 2012 and has been vacant since March 2013. The building is commonly known as the Superman Building based on a popular belief that it was the model for the Daily Planet building in the Superman comic books.
The Miami Tower iconic in its appearance in Miami Vice was known as the Bank of America Tower for many years. It is located in Downtown Miami. On April 18, 2012, the AIA's Florida Chapter placed it on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places as the Bank of America Tower.[148]
See also
- List of members ATM Industry Association (ATMIA)
- BAML Capital Partners
- Bank of America (Asia)
- Bank of America Canada
- Calibuso, et al. v. Bank of America Corp., et al.
- List of bank mergers in United States
References
- ^ a b "Bank of America". NNDB. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
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(help) - ^ "Bank of America Corporation". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
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(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Bank of America Corporation 2017 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". sec.gov. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
- ^ This is from the bank's own Twitter page: "Connect with us, the official BofA Twitter reps." Retrieved 9 Dec. 2017.
- ^ Largest Banks in the United States
- ^ Forbes – The World’s Biggest Public Companies 2016 RANKING: Bank of America
- ^ a b Cohan, William D. (September 2009), "An offer he couldn't refuse", The Atlantic
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Further reading
- Cohen, Lauren (2016). Bank of America Interview Tips. Los Angeles, CA: Smith-Westfield Press.
- Bonadio, Felice A. (1994). A.P. Giannini: Banker of America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-08249-4.
- Hector, Gary (1988). Breaking the Bank: The Decline of BankAmerica. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-35392-2.
- James, Marquie; James, Bessie (1954). Biography of a Bank: The Story of Bank of America N.T.&S.A. New York: Harper and Brothers.
- Johnston, Moira (1990). Roller Coaster: The Bank of America and the Future of American Banking. New York: Ticknor & Fields.
- Josephson, Matthew (1972). The Money Lords: The Great Finance Capitalists, 1925–1950. New York: Weybright and Talley.
- Lampert, Hope (1986). Behind Closed Doors: Wheeling and Dealing in the Banking World. New York: Atheneum.
- Light, Larry (October 1, 2007). "Money for the Masses". Forbes.
- Monnette, Orra Eugene. Personal Papers Collection. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles Public Library.
- Nash, Gerald G. (1992). A.P. Giannini and the Bank of America. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.
- Yockey, Ross (1999). McColl: The Man with America's Money. Atlanta: Longstreet Press.
- Ahmed, Azam; Demirjian, Karoun (February 15, 2007). "Credit offered to illegal residents". Chicago Tribune.
- Taibbi, Matt (March 14, 2012). "Bank of America: Too Crooked to Fail". Rolling Stone.
External links
- Official website
- DOD Community Bank operated by Bank of America official website
- Business data for Bank of America Corp:
- Bank of America
- 1904 establishments in California
- Banks based in North Carolina
- Banks established in 1904
- Systemically important financial institutions
- Bank of America legacy banks
- Companies based in Charlotte, North Carolina
- Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
- Financial services companies of the United States
- Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
- Multinational companies headquartered in the United States
- Online brokerages
- Primary dealers