Bank of America

From Coop America's Responsible Shopper Profile:

Bank of America received a “B” grade on the 2007 NAACP Economic Reciprocity Initiative report. The grade reflects a measurement of corporate America's commitment to the African American citizenry and other people of color. Companies were surveyed for their activity in employment, vendor development and contracting, advertising and marketing, dealerships and philanthropy. NAACP, 07/15/2007

Bank of America is facing a discrimination lawsuit brought by five African American current and former employees. The lawsuit claims that the bank limited the employees to minority and low net-worth clients because of the bank's belief that clients are more "comfortable" working with members of their own race. Boston Globe, 05/18/2007

According to the Associated Press, Bank of America is facing an employee class-action lawsuit claiming that the company's cash-balance pension plan was designed to benefit Bank of America without regard for the welfare of employees. Plaintiffs claim that Bank of America asked workers to move $2.7 billion worth of 401(k) assets into the company pension plan, which was then used for investments yeilding a higher return than what the company was willing to offer employees. As of 2007, the case was unresolved. [Charlotte Observer, 03/02/2007]

From 1989 to May 2006, Bank of America spent a total of $14,065,791 on political campaign contributions. In the 2006 election cycle alone, $2.07 million was given by Bank of America employees to political campaigns. Of that amount, $918,631, or 44 percent went to Democratic candidates and $1.14 million or 55 percent to Republican candidates. Center for Responsive Politics, 02/19/2007

In 2006, current Bank of America CEO, Kenneth D. Lewis, earned $27,873,348 in total compensation according to the Securities and Exchange Commission's calculations and $25,837,801. AFL-CIO, 01/01/2007

According to the Social Investment Research Analyst Network, ten years after the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission recommended disclosure of diversity data as a way to remove barriers and promote women and minority advancement, most US companies still fail to fully disclose EEO data to the public. Bank of America is listed as one of the companies that does not provide full public disclosure. Rather, disclosure of EEO data is made available upon request. Social Investment Research Analyst Network (SIRAN), 12/07/2005

The Inner City Press-Fair Finance Watch accused Bank of America and Citigroup of charging higher mortgage loan rates for African American and Hispanic borrowers than white borrowers. The ICP reports that blacks were over two times more likely to receive rate spread home purchase loans than whites, and Hispanics were 2.5 times more likely than whites to pay higher rates with all types of Bank of America loans. Associated Press, 04/04/2005

In March 2004 Bank of America and FleetBoston Financial agreed to pay a total of $675 million to resolve allegations of improper mutual-fund trading and to reduce fees investors pay by $160 million. Under the settlement, Bank of America would paid $125 million in civil fines and $250 million in restitution to investors. FleetBoston paid $70 million in civil fines and an additional $70 million in restitution. Additionally, eight members of the board of directors of Nations Funds, Bank of America's group of mutual funds, wererequired to resign their positions within a year for their alleged role in allowing the trading violations Also the two financial companies, which merged immediately following the settlement, agreed to make certain changes in their mutual fund operations. The settlemnet also severely restricted Bank of America involvement in the securities clearing sector. Office of the New York State Attorney General, 03/15/2004

In August 2003 The Wall Street Journal reported that Bank of America and at least nine other US banks moved more than $17 billion into investment funds to shelter hundreds of millions of dollars from state taxes, sparking probes by state tax authorities. The banks created funds that did not publicly sell shares but paid tax-exempt dividends to the banks, according to the report. Securities and Exchange Commission records show Bank of America transferred at least $8 billion into its fund, which sheltered more than $750 million in income. Wall Street Journal, 08/01/2003