The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America; often abbreviated BAC, BofA, or, less commonly, BOA) is an American multinational 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 formed by the merger of NationsBank and the legacy corporation of Bank of America, in 1998. It is the second-largest banking institution in the United States by consolidated assets, after JPMorgan Chase. It is also the second-largest bank in the world by market capitalization, after JPMorgan Chase.
Among the Big Four banking institution and one of eight systemically important financial institutions in the United States; it competes with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo. Its primary financial services revolve around commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking.
Through past mergers, the oldest branch of the Bank of America franchise dates back to 1784, when Massachusetts Bank was chartered, becoming the first federally chartered joint-stock-owned bank in the United States. Another branch of its history goes back to the American-based Bank of Italy, founded by Amadeo Pietro Giannini in 1904, which provided various banking services to Italian immigrants who faced service discrimination at the time. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Giannini acquired Banca d'America e d'Italia in 1922 and eventually did business as Bank of America.
In the 1950s, the passage of landmark federal banking legislation facilitated rapid growth, quickly establishing prominent shares for the present bank's predecessors. After suffering significant losses during the 1998 Russian financial crisis, BankAmerica, as it was then known, was acquired by the Charlotte-based NationsBank for $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.
As of 2018, the investment bank was considered within the "bulge bracket" as the world's third-largest investment bank. Its wealth management unit then managing $1.08 trillion in assets under management (AUM) as the second-largest wealth manager in the world, after UBS. In commercial banking, Bank of America has operations, but does not maintain retail branches in all 50 states of the United States, Washington, D.C., and over 40 other countries.
Contents
History
Bank of America, Los Angeles, was founded in California in 1923. In 1928, this entity was acquired by the Bank of Italy of San Francisco, which took the Bank of America name two years later.
The eastern portion of the Bank of America franchise can be traced to 1784, when the Massachusetts Bank was chartered, the first federally chartered joint-stock owned bank in the United States and only the second bank to receive a charter in their country. This bank became FleetBoston, with which Bank of America merged in 2004. In 1874, Commercial National Bank was founded in Charlotte. That bank merged with American Trust Company in 1958 to form American Commercial Bank. Two years later, it became North Carolina National Bank when it merged with Security National Bank of Greensboro. In 1991, it merged with C&S/Sovran Corporation of Atlanta and Norfolk to form NationsBank.
The central portion of the franchise dates to 1910, when Commercial National Bank and Continental National Bank of Chicago merged to form Continental & Commercial National Bank, which evolved into Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust.
Early history
The history of Bank of America dates to October 17, 1904, when Amadeo Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in San Francisco. In 1922, the Bank of America, Los Angeles, was established with Giannini as a minority investor. The two banks merged in 1928 and, through further consolidations to become the largest banking institution in the country.
In 1928, Bank of Italy merged with Bank of America, Los Angeles. The following year, New York City investment bank, Blair & Co., merged with Bank of America. The Bank of Italy was renamed on November 3, 1930, to Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association, with Giannini and Monnette as co-chairs. By 1929, the bank had 453 banking offices in California with aggregate resources of over US$1.4 billion. Giannini sought to build a national bank, expanding into most of the western states, as well as into the insurance industry, under 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.
New technologies enabled the direct linking of credit cards with individual bank accounts. In 1958, the bank introduced its BankAmericard; it was renamed Visa in 1976.
From February 1970 through September 1971, there were 66 attacks on Bank of America branches in California, including 53 bombings or fire-bombings, and 13 arson fires. There were "few injuries" and the property damage cost about $500,000, 80% of which was from the burning of the Isla Vista branch during a February 1970 riot.
Following the passage of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 by the U.S. Congress, BankAmerica Corporation was established for the purpose of owning and operating Bank of America and its subsidiaries.
In 1983, Bank of America expanded outside California, through acquisition of Seafirst Corporation in Seattle and its wholly owned banking subsidiary, Seattle-First National Bank.
BankAmerica experienced huge losses in 1986 and 1987 due to the placement of a series of bad loans in the Third World. In 1992, the company acquired 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 represented, at the time, the largest bank acquisition in history.
Merger of NationsBank and BankAmerica, 1998
In 1997, BankAmerica lent investment management firm D. E. Shaw & Co. $1.4 billion to run various businesses for the bank. However, D.E. Shaw suffered significant losses during the 1998 Russian financial crisis. NationsBank of Charlotte acquired BankAmerica in 1998 in what was the largest bank acquisition in history at that time.
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 operates under Federal Charter 13044, which was granted to Giannini's Bank of Italy on March 1, 1927. However, the merged company was and still is headquartered in Charlotte, and retains NationsBank's pre-1998 stock price history. 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.
In 1998, Bank of America possessed combined assets of $570 billion, as well as 4,800 branches in 22 U.S. states. Despite the 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. These branches were sold to BOK Financial Corporation, which operates them under the name "Bank of Albuquerque". The broker-dealer, NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, was named Banc of America Securities in 1998.
Banc of America Securities subsidiary
Banc of America Securities LLC (BAS) was the investment banking subsidiary of BoA from 1998 until BoA was merged with Merrill Lynch (2008). Headquartered in New York City, the company competed in both the domestic and international equity and investment banking markets. The company was a registered broker-dealer with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and was a member of the New York Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers. The use of "Banc" in the BAS's name was indicative of the fact that the company was not a bank, and its deposits and other holdings were not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The subsidiary was founded in 1998 following a strategy pioneered by Citigroup that combines corporate lending with investment banking advice and services. During its years of operation, its strongest investment banking groups included high-yield debt underwriting and Leveraged Finance, in addition to industry coverage groups such as Healthcare, Consumer & Retail, Global Industries, Media & Telecom, Financial Institutions, Real Estate, and Gaming. It also had a massive equities and derivatives group led by John Sandelman. The group was later led by Chris Innes from 2002 to 2006 (in 2001, Innes was instrumental in a deal kept private that generated $100 million in fees for the bank adjusted ($US191 million in 2025), the largest equities derivative deal of all time. Innes had become one of the youngest managing directors in the firm's history at 27, and made Global Head of Equities, Derivatives, and Prime Brokerage at 32 before leaving to launch his own hedge fund. BAS also did a significant amount of work for Financial Sponsors, or private equity firms, often financing leveraged transactions. On the product side, the firm employed M&A senior bankers throughout the industry coverage groups. BAS also had a stand-alone Mergers & Acquisitions Group, consisting of bankers that transact M&A deals across all industries, as well as a Transaction Development Group, which aimed to identify and market transaction opportunities. The unit also had sizeable fixed income, currency, and commodities divisions.
During 2007–2008, BAS significantly downsized its international operations, eliminating a number of industry groups in Europe, as well as cutting numerous banking and sales and trading positions in North America and Asia prior to its merger with Merrill Lynch. On October 3, 2008, Bank of America announced that John Thain would lead the combined Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Global Corporate and Investment Banking enterprise. Thain was forced out by Bank of America Chairman Kenneth D. Lewis on January 22, 2009, because of the colossal losses visited on B of A due to its acquisition of Merrill Lynch. With Thain's departure, Brian Moynihan became president of Global Banking and Global Wealth and Investment Management. After the merger was closed, the SEC Registration of Banc of America Securities was terminated in January 2011.
2005 to 2007
In 2001, McColl stepped down as CEO 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. By merging with Bank of America, all of its banks and branches were given the Bank of America logo. At the time of the merger, FleetBoston was the seventh-largest bank in the United States with $197 billion in assets, over 20 million customers, and revenue of $12 billion. 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 with 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 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, in exchange for Itaú shares. The deal was signed in August 2006.
Before 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.
2007–2010 (Subprime mortgage crisis)
During the subprime mortgage crisis, the bank, under Ken Lewis, made two major acquisitions that would shape the future of the company for the next couple of years coming out of the crisis. Specifically, the bank was sued by many different parties and made to pay tens of billions of dollars.
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.
On January 11, 2008, Bank of America announced that it would buy Countrywide Financial for $4.1 billion. 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. This news did not hinder the acquisition, which was completed in July 2008, giving the bank a substantial market share of the mortgage business, and access to Countrywide's resources for servicing mortgages. 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.
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. 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's bankruptcy remote. 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 practices 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.
2011 to present
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. In December 2011, Forbes ranked Bank of America's financial wealth 91st out of the nation's largest 100 banks and thrift institutions.
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. 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.
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. By 2018, the number of mobile users has increased to 25.3 million and the number of locations fell to 4,411 at the end of June.
In 2005, Bank of America acquired a 9% stake in China Construction Bank, one of the Big Four banks in China, for US$3 billion. 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. In November 2011, Bank of America announced plans to divest most of its stake in the China Construction Bank.
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.
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. 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".
CEO history
Hugh McColl (1998–2001)
Ken Lewis (2001–2009)
Brian Moynihan (2010– )
Operations
Bank of America generates 90% of its revenues in its domestic market. The core of its strategy is to be the top bank in its domestic market, achieved through key acquisitions.
Consumer Banking
Consumer Banking, the largest division in the company, provides financial services to consumers and small businesses including, banking, investments, merchant services, and lending products including business loans, mortgages, and credit cards. It provides stockbroker services via Merrill Edge, a specific division for investment and related services, such as research and call center counsel, after Merrill Lynch became a subsidiary of Bank of America. The consumer banking division represented 38% of the company's total revenue in 2016. The company earns revenue from interest income, service charges, and fees. In addition, the company is 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 ATMs.
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 travelling 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.
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 the 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. It is among the 10 largest U.S. wealth managers. It has over $2.5 trillion in client balances. 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 securities service, market maker, and risk management using derivatives. The division represented 19% of the company's total revenues in 2016.
Labor
On April 9, 2019, the company announced minimum wage will be increased beginning May 1, 2019, to $17.00 an hour until it reaches a goal of $20.00 an hour in 2021.
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).
Bank of America's Global Corporate and Investment Banking has its U.S. headquarters in Charlotte, European headquarters in Dublin, and Asian headquarters in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Charitable efforts
In 1998, the bank made a ten-year commitment of $350 billion to provide affordable mortgages, build affordable housing, support small businesses and create jobs in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. In 2004, the bank pledged $750 million over a ten-year period for community development lending and affordable housing programs.
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. 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. Bank of America has also donated money to help health centers in Massachusetts and made a $1 million donation in 2007 to help homeless shelters in Miami.
In India, Bank of America donates to the preservation and documentation of relics. Since 2010, under the stewardship of Kaku Nakhate, president and head of BoA India, the company has supported arts and culture in the country, including sponsoring the Children's Museum at CSMVS (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, formerly known as Prince of Wales Museum).
Lawsuits, controversies, and incidents
Lawsuits
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. 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.
In August 2011, Bank of America was sued for $10 billion by American International Group over an alleged "massive fraud" on mortgage debt. Another lawsuit filed against Bank of America, pertained to $57.5 billion in mortgage-backed securities Bank of America sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 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. 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. The settlement, known as the National Mortgage Settlement (NMS), required the servicers to provide about $26 billion in relief to distressed homeowners and indirect payments to the states and the federal government. This settlement amount makes the NMS the second largest civil settlement in U.S. history, only trailing the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. 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. 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.
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. 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. In 2010, the bank was criticized for allegedly seizing three properties that were not under their ownership, apparently due to incorrect addresses on their legal documents.
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 remove some information criticizing the bank online.
On May 6, 2015, Bank of America announced it would reduce its financial exposure to coal companies. The announcement came following pressure from universities and environmental groups. The new policy was announced as part of the bank's decision to continue to reduce credit exposure over time to the coal mining sector.
On 15 October 2025, a class-action lawsuit against Bank of America alleging its reckless disregard in its financial relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was filed.
In February 2026, a U.S. federal judge ruled that parts of a civil lawsuit against Bank of America could proceed, stating that allegations of the bank’s “reckless disregard” were sufficient to support claims under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The lawsuit alleged that Bank of America provided banking services to Jeffrey Epstein despite warning signs, and that the bank knowingly benefited from its relationship with him. While some claims were dismissed, the judge allowed key trafficking-related allegations against the bank to move forward. Bank of America denied wrongdoing.
The SEC charged Jason Satsky, a former co-head of the bank's power and renewable energy banking division, with insider trading on August 21, 2026, with regard to the bank's energy holding company client, South Jersey Industries.
Incidents
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. 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". In response to this announcement, Bank of America stock dropped 3.2%.
In December 2010, Bank of America announced that it would no longer service requests to transfer funds to WikiLeaks, 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."
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.
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.
In March 2022, the bank was involved in an incident related to filmmaker Ryan Coogler, who was wrongly targeted as a bank robber and detained by the police in Atlanta, after Coogler tried to withdraw cash in the local branch of the Bank of America. After his identity was verified with both his California state ID card and his Bank of America card, Coogler was released and the bank released an apology statement. According to a number of sources, the bank's teller hadn't checked Coogler's ID to verify if he was the owner of the bank account before she asked the bank's supervisor to call police.
In 2013, an intern in the London office was found dead. It was reported that the intern had worked until 6am for the preceding three days before his death, and that this was typical of expectations at the bank. The incident sparked much debate regarding working hours at the firm, which resulted in rival firm Goldman Sachs capping intern hours to 17 per day.
Buildings
Buildings which Bank of America occupies include:
Bank of America Tower in Phoenix, Arizona
9454 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California
Bank of America Center in Los Angeles, California
Transamerica Pyramid, in San Francisco, California
555 California Street, formerly the Bank of America Center and world headquarters, in San Francisco, California
City Place I, also known as United Healthcare Center, in Hartford, Connecticut (the tallest building in Connecticut)
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
Former buildings
The Robert B. Atwood Building in Anchorage, Alaska was at one time named the Bank of America Center; it was 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.
Miami Tower in Downtown Miami, known as Bank of America Tower for many years, was an iconic appearance in the television series Miami Vice. On April 18, 2012, the AIA's Florida Chapter placed the building on its list of "Florida Architecture 100 Years.100 Places" as Bank of America Tower.
TC Energy Center in Houston, Texas, was previously known as Bank of America Center until Bank of America ended its tenancy in the building in June 2019. Designed in the postmodern architecture style by renowned architect Philip Johnson, the building was completed in 1983.