All we have to know about Bank of America

ca-pub-8661721898834303 This article is about a commercial bank unaffiliated with any government. For the central bank of the United States, see Federal Reserve System. "BofA" redirects here. For the French illustrator, see Gus Bofa. The Bank of America Corporation (abbreviated as BofA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with central hubs in New York City, London, Hong Kong, Minneapolis, and Toronto. Bank of America was formed through NationsBank's acquisition of BankAmerica in 1998. It is the second largest banking institution in the United States, after JPMorgan Chase. As a part of the Big Four, it services approximately 10.73% of all American bank deposits, in direct competition with Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase. Its primary financial services revolve around commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking. Bank of America Corporation Bank of America logo.svg Bank of America Corporate Center.jpg Bank of America headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. Type Public Traded as NYSE: BAC S&P 100 component S&P 500 component ISIN US0605051046 Industry Investment bankingfinancial services Predecessor Bank America NationsBank Founded February 1784 (as Massachusetts Bank) October 17, 1904 (as Bank of Italy) September 1998 (as Bank of America through Nationsbank's acquisition) Founder Amadeo Giannini (for the Bank of Italy branch) Headquarters Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. Number of locations 4,600 retail financial centers & approximately 15,900 automated teller machines[1] Area served International service Key people Brian Moynihan (Chairman and CEO) Anne Finucane (Co-Vice Chairman) Bruce Thompson (Co-Vice Chairman) Products Consumer banking, corporate banking, insurance, investment banking, mortgage loans, private banking, private equity, wealth management, credit cards Revenue Increase US$91.24 billion (2018)[1] Operating income Increase US$34.60 billion (2018)[1] Net income Increase US$28.14 billion (2018)[1] Total assets Increase US$2.325 trillion (2018)[1] Total equity Decrease US$264.74 billion (2018)[1] Owner Berkshire Hathaway (6.6%)[2] Number of employees 205,000 (2019)[1] Divisions BofA Securities Merrill Bank of America Private Bank Capital ratio 11.8% (2017)[1] Rating Moody's: Baa1 S&P: BBB Fitch: A Website bankofamerica.com One branch of its history stretches back to Bank of Italy, founded by Amadeo Pietro Giannini in 1904, which provided Italian immigrants who faced service discrimination various banking options.[3] Originally headquartered in San Francisco, California, Giannini acquired Banca d'America e d'Italia (Bank of America and Italy) in 1922. The passage of landmark federal banking legislation facilitated rapid growth in the 1950s, 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. Since both divisions carry the "Merrill Lynch" signage, the former is often referred to as "Merrill Lynch Wealth Management" to differentiate itself from the latter.[4] Both Bank of America Merrill Lynch 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.[5] 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.[6] In commercial banking, Bank of America operates—but does not necessarily maintain retail branches—in all 50 states of the United States, the District of Columbia and more than 40 other countries.[7] Its commercial banking footprint encapsulates 46 million consumer and small business relationships at 4,600 banking centers and 15,900 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 has 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.[8] Bank of America was ranked #24 on the 2018 Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.[9] Bank of America was named the "World's Best Bank" by the Euromoney Institutional Investor in their 2018 Awards for Excellence.[10]