Bank of America

Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation

Bank of America is one of the largest commercial, financial institutions in the world. It was founded by an Italian A. Giannini in 1904, in San Francisco, under the name Bank of Italy. The modern name was in 1930 after the merger with Bank of America and California. The Bank has actively funded by the U.S. industry and is a leader in the mortgage market and the savings in dollars. Bank headquarters is located in San Francisco and a significant proportion of its activities are concentrated in California. The bank plays a crucial role in placing foreign loans, owns subsidiary banks in New York, in Italy and participated in the work of credit agencies in many countries around the world. There are close long-term relations established between the Bank of America with automotive, steel, aluminum, oil companies, as well as the aviation company Douglas Aircraft, Hearst newspaper chains and the largest agricultural company, California Land (Bonadio, 1994).

The Time of Major Mergers

The major new acquisition of BankAmerica arrived in 1992. At that time, BankAmerica acquires its competitor California Security Pacific Corporation and its subsidiary Security Pacific National Bank and other banks in Arizona, in Idaho, in Oregon and Washington. Later that year, Bank of America acquired a bank in the Nevada Valley Bank of Nevada.

In 1994, BankAmerica acquired the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago, which became the property of the federal government after meeting the same problems as Seafirst in the oil industry. At that time, no other bank had the means to replenish the bank. With this merger, BankAmerica Corporation becomes the largest bank in the United States in terms of deposits.

Despite the huge size, federal regulators have required only the sale of thirteen agencies in New Mexico, in towns where Bank of America would have owned all the bank branches. These assignments are only required if a company has more than 25% of deposits of state or more than 10% over the whole territory. The group thus formed is present in twenty-two states through 4800 agencies to $ 570 billion of capital.

In 2001, Hugh McColl, CEO and Chairman of the board of directors resigned and named Ken Lewis as his successor. The new CEO then concentrates more on the financial performance of the group, total rupture with the onerous expansionist policies of his predecessor.

In 2004, Bank of America bought from National City Corporation, National Processing Company, based in Louisville for $ 1.4 billion. The new subsidiary, renamed BA Merchant Services, processes a transaction in six of VISA and Master card. The corporation also offers financial services for companies of transport and health.

In 2004, Bank of America acquired FleetBoston Financial for $ 47 billion. Through this transaction, the Group strengthens its position in the U.S. where it has $ 513 billion of deposits, well ahead of number two JPMorgan Chase-Bank One with $ 353 billion and the number three Wells Fargo with $ 228 ...