Company Overview

Bank of America is growing like bamboo. In 1998, the basic current incarnation of the bank was formed from the merger of North Carolina’s NationsBank and San Francisco’s BankAmerica; the deal created the country’s first coast-to-coast bank. In 2004, Bank of America acquired FleetBoston, a major Northeastern retail and commercial bank. And Then, in 2006, the bank picked up credit card giant MBNA in a deal worth roughly $35 billion in cash and stock. That deal doubled Bank of America’s credit card customers to about 40 million and added 5,000 organizations and institutions with which MBNA held affinity marketing relationships.

In 2007, Bank of America bought U.S. Trust from Charles Schwab for more than $3 billion and LaSalle Bank from Netherlands-based ABN AMRO for some $21 billion, and made a $2 billion investment in Countrywide Financial the same year.  In 2008, financial blogs were abuzz over Bank of America’s decision to rescue Countrywide by buying the ailing company at a bargain price of $4 billion in stock.

Seizing the opportunity that the financial crisis presented, in September of 2008 the company merged with 94-year-old Merrill Lynch in a hastily crafted deal for $50 billion. Merrill was left with little choice after its stock plummeted and investors feared it would face a fate similar to Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers. Bank of America will have the largest brokerage in the world with more than 20,000 advisers and $2.5 trillion in client assets once it adds Merrill Lynch's more than 16,000 financial advisers. The bank will also be the world’s number one underwriter of global high yield debt.

Today, the firm boasts around 6,100 retail banking offices, more than 18,700 ATMs, and online banking with 29 million active users. Bank of America’s three lines of global business include consumer and small business banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management. The Global Corporate and Investment Banking (GCIB) division of Bank of America focuses on companies with annual revenues of more than $2.5 million; middle-market and large corporations; institutional investors; financial institutions; and government entities.