BankTrack is the international tracking, campaigning and support organisation focused on banks and the activities they finance.
We aim to promote fundamental changes in the banking sector so that banks adopt just and sustainable business practices.
Bank of America head office Charlotte NC. Photo: jbarreiros via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA 2.0)Bank of America is an American multinational banking and financial services corporation and is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. Bank of America serves clients in more than 150 countries and has a relationship with 99% of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83% of the Fortune Global 500. The company is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and a component of both the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In 2008 Bank of America acquired Merrill Lynch, enabling the bank to become the world's largest wealth management corporation and a major investment bank.
| Headquarters |
100 North Tryon Street
28255 Charlotte, NC
United States
|
| Supervisor | |
| CEO/chair |
Brian T. Moynihan CEO |
| Annual report | Annual Report 2017 |
| Website | http://www.bankofamerica.com |
| Ownership |
listed on NYSE Euronext & Tokyo Stock Exchange
Large shareholders include the Vanguard Group (4.7%), State Street Global Advisors (4.4%) and BlackRock Institutional Trust Company (3.6%). |
An overview of Bank of America's policies can be found on its Environmental governance and policies page, here.
The Equator Principles are a voluntary commitment of banks to try to avoid or minimise the social, environmental and human rights impact of projects they finance. For more information on the Equator Principles see their website here and the campaign page of BankTrack here.
The Equator Principles exist already since 2003. Bank of America adopted the Equator Principles in 2004.
Bank of America must report annually on its implementation of the Equator Principles. All information is supposed to be found here.
Bank of America is involved in financing the following Equator Principles projects that BankTrack considers controversial.
|
True leader
Front runner
Follower
Laggard
|
BankTrack has assessed Bank of America on its implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in June 2016. Bank of America is assessed as a Laggard, with a total score of 1/12.
|
Bank of America is reporting on the implementation here.
In May, Bank of America and Crédit Agricole became the first major banks to announce plans to stop financing coal mining. These announcements marked a hugely significant win and a breakthrough moment in the fight to end financing for the coal industry. The second half of 2015, in the run-up to the make-or-break UN climate change conference in Paris, then saw important coal finance restrictions being announced by institutions including Citi, Natixis, Goldman Sachs, Société Générale, BNP Paribas, ING and RBS. All these moves are captured here – significantly, a number of banks have chosen not just to get out of coal mining, but are also extending into ending their support for coal power.
Coal India Limited's attempt at a public share issue was successfully blocked in late 2013. The Indian government, the company's majority shareholder, hoped toraise USD 3 billion through the sale of 10% of its stake in the world's largest coal miner. Banktrack was part of a coalition of groups including Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network and urgewald that pressured the banks underwriting the share offer (Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs) for their involvement with a company with a notorious environmental and human rights record. Read more [external link].
