Bank of America

The history of Bank of America dates back to 1904, when Amadeo Giannini founded the Bank
of Italy in San Francisco. In 1929, Giannini merged his bank with Bank of America, Los
Angeles and consolidated it with his other bank holdings to create what would become the
largest banking institution in the country. He renamed the Bank of Italy on November 3, 1930,
calling it Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association.
Bank of America is an American multinational banking and financial services corporation
headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the second largest bank holding company in the
United States by assets. As of 2013, Bank of America is the twenty-first largest company in the
United States by total revenue. In 2010, Forbes listed Bank of America as the third biggest
company in the world.
Bank of Americas recent acquisition

2004- National Processing Company (Kentucky)

2004- FleetBoston Financial (Founded in 1784) $47 billion.

2006- MBNA (credit card giant) $ 35 billion

2007- United State Trust Company (From Charles Schwab Corp.) $3.3 billion.

2007- ABN AMRO North America LaSalle Bank Corp. & LaSalle Corporate Finance
from ABN AMRO $ 21 billion.

2008- Countrywide Financial (mortgages) $ 4.1 billion.

September 14, 2008- announced they would purchase Merrill Lynch & Co. for $ 50
billion.
Bank of Merrill Lynch

The company was founded on January 6, 1914, when Charles E. Merrill opened his Charles E.
Merrill & Co. for business at 7 Wall Street in New York City. A few months later, Merrill's
friend, Edmund C. Lynch, joined him, and in 1915 the name was officially changed to Merrill,
Lynch & Co. Company provide services in investment banking.
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management is the wealth management division of Bank of America.
With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets, it is the world's

largest brokerage. Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed to be acquired by Bank of America on September
14, 2008, at the height of the 2008 Financial Crisis.
Introduction to Deal
Due to the Subprime mortgage crisis in 2007 Merrill Lynch went into huge debt. Merrill Lynch
announced it would write-down $8.4 billion in losses associated with the national housing
crisis and remove E. Stanley O'Neal as its chief executive and brought former NYSE colleagues
such as John Thain as CFO.
Late that month, the firm announced it would sell its commercial finance business to General
Electric and sell off major shares of its stock to Temasek Holdings, a Singapore government
investment group, in an effort to raise capital. Thain announced $4.9 billion fourth quarter losses
for the company from defaults and bad investments in the ongoing mortgage crisis. In one year
between July 2007 and July 2008, Merrill Lynch lost $19.2 billion, or $52 million daily.
Andrew Cuomo, New York Attorney General, threatened to sue Merrill Lynch in August 2008
over its misrepresentation of the risk on mortgage-backed securities. On September 5,
2008 Goldman Sachs downgraded Merrill Lynch's stock to "conviction sell" and warned of
further losses at the company. Bloomberg reported in September 2008 that Merrill Lynch had
lost $51.8 billion on mortgage-backed securities as part of the subprime mortgage crisis.
On September 14th, Bank of American purchased Merrill Lynch for $ 50 Billion in stocks, at $
29/share- a 61% drop from 12 months prior.