“J.P. Morgan Chase, an amalgam of some of Wall Street’s most storied institutions, now holds more than $1 of every $10 on deposit in this country. So does Bank of America, scarred by its acquisition of Merrill Lynch and partly government-owned as a result of the crisis, as does Wells Fargo, the biggest West Coast bank. Those three banks, plus government-rescued and -owned Citigroup, now issue one of every two mortgages and about two of every three credit cards, federal data show.”
Posts Tagged ‘Bank of America’
Too big to fail banks even bigger
August 28, 2009Bank of America latest to drop mandatory arbitration
August 14, 2009“Bank of America Corp. said that as of Thursday it will stop requiring that disputes with its credit card holders and banking and lending customers be settled by binding arbitration, opening the door for class-action and other lawsuits to push up the bank’s legal costs.
Many consumers are unaware that card agreements typically include a clause that waives a card holder’s right to sue. Lenders instead use arbitration to go after delinquent accounts and consumers can employ arbitrators to fight disputes with their banks.”
Bank of America sued for premature withdrawals
August 5, 2009“Bank of America made millions of dollars from its customers by prematurely withdrawing money from their checking accounts, a class action claims in Jackson County Court. The class claims the bank withdraws money electronically from accounts before paper checks are presented, though BofA advertises that it does not do that.
The class claims Bank of America takes customers’ money and puts it into a separate account that it controls during a float period. The bank allegedly earns millions of dollars from the interest it gains from the premature withdrawals, while at the same time it exposes customers to unwarranted service fees and insufficient funds charges.”
Lewis out as Bank of America CEO
April 30, 2009“Ken Lewis was voted out as chairman of Bank of America but remains president and CEO, because shareholders voted to have an independent chairman.”
No tear shed here.
Nevada takes on Countrywide: too little too late?
February 27, 2009The state of Nevada has filed a lawsuit against Countrywide in Clark County court alleging that the company deceived consumers through deceptive lending practices.
Bank of America recently announced it was rebranding Countrywide and the practices that company engaged in are no longer possible in a tight credit market. So beyond political grandstanding, a lawsuit by Nevada asking Countrywide to stop its bad lending practices seems pointless.
Countrywide getting a re-branding
February 22, 2009Bank of America is going to call it, “Bank of America Home Loans.” Not very catchy but better than “Scam home loans.”
Bank of America sued for unauthorized charges
February 6, 2009A woman is suing Bank of America and FIA Card Services in Ohio state court class action for charging her for credit protection without her authorization. She didn’t notice the charges for six months and when she did and notified the bank about the $392.13 that had been racked up on her account, Bank of America refused to issue her a refund.
I’ve experience similar charges from banks which is upsetting and frustrating but that’s why you need to constantly review all charges to your account.
Update: Bank of America layoffs
February 4, 2009The depth and breadth of the layoffs that occurred yesterday still haven’t hit the mainstream media. I did find a story about how David Rudis, a top executive with LaSalle Bank acquired by BofA in 2007 was laid off amidst a “companywide restructuring.”
Big Bank of America layoffs rumored
February 4, 2009According to a diarist at the DailyKos, it could number in the thousands and mostly effect workers who were absorbed in the purchase of MBNA three years ago who were contractually protected by having a clause in their contract that gave them one month to one year severance if they were laid off within the three year period. That period is now up and lots of these people were let go. But so far, no mainstream media coverage or announcement.
BofA which, I think is running on fumes, isn’t going to announce any more bad news. They probably hope they can gloss over this latest news, by calling it “further restructuring” or some other nonesense.
Bank of America propped up like Citicorp
January 18, 2009
The feds have gotten smarter about how they takeover failed banks. Indymac failed the old fashion way and Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. The feds engineered a fire sale for WAMU in a deal with JP Morgan and it went on the books as a failed bank. Since then, they have avoided the failed bank approach with Citicorp and now I believe with Bank of America. Its probably a good way to avoid panic but aren’t they hiding the true costs of the meltdown from the public and won’t we be surprised some day in the future when they total up the bill and come collecting? The Bank of Americas will have smart lawyers to avoid the tax bills that the rest of us end up paying. Here is the latest press release that sound pretty much the feds have put BofA on life support:
The U.S. government agreed to invest $20 billion more in Bank of America Corp. and guarantee $118 billion of its assets to help the lender absorb Merrill Lynch & Co. and prevent the financial crisis from deepening.
The government agreed to the rescue “as part of its commitment to support financial-market stability,” the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in a joint statement shortly after midnight in Washington.
Reading Tea Leaves by Randy Wilson 