Bank of America

This article is about a commercial bank unaffiliated with any government. For the central bank of the United States, see Federal Reserve.
See also: Bank of America (1904–1998)

Bank of America Corporation
Company typePublic
ISINUS0605051046
IndustryFinancial services
Predecessors
Founded1998 (via the merger of BankAmerica & NationsBank)
HeadquartersBank of America Corporate Center,
Charlotte, North Carolina
,
United States
Number of locations
c. 3,800 retail financial centers, c. 15,000 ATMs (2023)
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Products
RevenueIncrease US$98.6 billion (2023)
Decrease US$28.3 billion (2023)
Decrease US$26.5 billion (2023)
AUMIncrease US$1.62 trillion (2023)
Total assetsIncrease US$3.18 trillion (2023)
Total equityIncrease US$292 billion (2023)
OwnersBerkshire Hathaway (12.8%)
Number of employees
c. 213,000 (2023)
Divisions
Websitebankofamerica.com
Footnotes / references
[1][2]

The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, with investment banking and auxiliary headquarters in Manhattan. The bank was founded by the merger of NationsBank and Bank of America in 1998. It is the second-largest banking institution in the United States and the second-largest bank in the world by market capitalization, both after JPMorgan Chase. Bank of America is one of the Big Four banking institutions of the United States.[3] It serves about 10 percent of all American bank deposits, in direct competition with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo. Its primary financial services revolve around commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking.

Through mergers, the oldest branch of the Bank of America franchise can be traced to 1784, when Massachusetts Bank was chartered, the first federally chartered joint-stock owned bank in the United States. Another branch of its history goes back to the U.S.-based Bank of Italy, founded by Amadeo Pietro Giannini in 1904, which provided various banking options to Italian immigrants who faced service discrimination.[4] Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Giannini acquired Banca d'America e d'Italia, in 1922.

In the 1950s, passage of landmark federal banking legislation facilitated rapid growth, quickly establishing a prominent market share. After suffering a significant loss after the 1998 Russian bond default, BankAmerica, as it was then known, was acquired by the Charlotte-based NationsBank for US$62 billion. Following what was then the largest bank acquisition in history, the Bank of America Corporation was founded. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, it built upon its commercial banking business by establishing Merrill Lynch for wealth management and Bank of America Merrill Lynch for investment banking in 2008 and 2009, respectively, and since renamed BofA Securities.[5]

Both Bank of America and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management retain large market shares in their respective offerings. The investment bank is considered within the "Bulge Bracket" as the third largest investment bank in the world, as of 2018.[6] Its wealth management side manages US$1.081 trillion in assets under management (AUM) as the second largest wealth manager in the world, after UBS.[7] In commercial banking, Bank of America operates, but does not necessarily maintain, retail branches in all 50 states of the United States, Washington, D.C., and over 40 other countries.[8] Its commercial banking footprint encapsulates 46 million consumer and small business relationships at 4,600 banking centers and 16,000 automated teller machines (ATMs).

The bank's large market share, business activities, and economic impact has led to numerous lawsuits and investigations regarding both mortgages and financial disclosures dating back to the 2008 financial crisis. Its corporate practices of servicing the middle class and wider banking community have yielded a substantial market share since the early 20th century. As of August 2018, Bank of America has a $313.5 billion market capitalization, making it the 13th largest company in the world. As the sixth largest American public company, it garnered $102.98 billion in sales as of June 2018.[9] Bank of America was ranked No. 25 on the 2020 Fortune 500 rankings of the largest US corporations by total revenue.[10] Likewise, Bank of America was also ranked No. 6 on the 2023 Global 2000 rankings done by Forbes.[11] Bank of America was named the "World's Best Bank" by the Euromoney Institutional Investor in its 2018 Awards for Excellence.[12][13]

  1. ^ "Bank of America Corp 2023 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 20, 2024.
  2. ^ "2022 Proxy Statement – Bank of America Corporation". sec.gov. March 7, 2022.
  3. ^ ONeil, Erin (August 2, 2016). "The Biggest Banks in the United States". The Balance. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  4. ^ "Who Made America? – Innovators – A.P. Giannini". PBS.org The bank grew due to insurance monies provided after the 1906 Earthquake. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  5. ^ Cohan, William D. (September 2009), "An offer he couldn't refuse", The Atlantic
  6. ^ Team, Trefis (June 14, 2018). "Five Largest U.S. Investment Banks Have Over $1.5 Trillion In Securities Trading Assets". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  7. ^ Shelby-Green, Michael (June 11, 2018). "The 15 biggest wealth managers in the world". Business Insider. Archived from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  8. ^ 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. Bank of America Branches and ATMs Archived July 1, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Click "Browse locations by state." 2014 Bank of America Corporation. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  9. ^ "Bank of America on the Forbes Global 2000 List". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 28, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  10. ^ "Fortune 500 Companies 2020: Who Made the List". Fortune. Archived from the original on November 10, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  11. ^ Murphy, Andrea; Tucker, Hank (June 8, 2023). "The Global 2000 (2023)". Forbes. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  12. ^ "World's best bank 2018: Bank of America". Euromoney. July 11, 2018. Archived from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018. Bank of America sets the standard for the new era of banking.
  13. ^ J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LLC Archived January 29, 2022, at the Wayback Machine entry at BrokerCheck