Bank of America Profit Trounces Estimates

(NEWSER) - Bank of America and Citigroup both posted estimate-topping profits today, but neither inspired much confidence, the New York Times reports. Both numbers hinged on one-time gains from asset sales. In Bank of America’s case, earnings fell 5.5% to $3.22 billion, a number propped up by the sale of its stake in a big Chinese bank. Citigroup pulled in $4.28 billion, but only because it sold off part of Smith Barney. More»

Cost-cutting to hit Merrill's top earners

(NEWSER) - Bank of America plans to lay off 2,000 of its highest paid employees in its investment banking, commercial banking, and non-US wealth management units, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . Those operations just happen to be the ones that expanded with BofA's acquisition of Merrill Lynch, which has been the bank's top profit center since the financial crisis. The move is part of CEO Brian Moynihan's aggressive plan to cut costs. More»

Will likely drive off free checking customers

(NEWSER) - The public relations disaster that was Bank of America's plan to charge customers monthly debit card fees was apparently so much fun that bank execs can't wait to try it again: In what the Wall Street Journal calls a sign of "stresses" in the banking industry, BofA is again looking at wide-ranging fees unless customers do significantly more business with the bank or agree to bank online. The move is politically risky, but with 2011 revenue down 22% over 2009, the bank is looking to drum up some cash from somewhere. More»

Bank tells Fed it'll shrink its footprint if things get rough

(NEWSER) - Should we start calling it Bank of Some of America? If push comes to shove, the banking giant is prepared to pull its operations out of some parts of the country, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . The unpalatable retreat is one of several contingency plans the bank drew up last year at the Federal Reserve's insistence, an exercise intended to prepare for the possibility that its mortgage and other financial problems could worsen. More»

It's the largest fair-lending settlement in history

(NEWSER) - Bank of America's purchase of Countrywide in 2008 just got more expensive. BofA agreed today to pay $335 million to settle a Justice Department complaint that Countrywide discriminated against black and Hispanic home buyers. The Wall Street Journal calls it the "largest residential fair-lending settlement in history." The allegations said Countrywide charged more than 200,000 minority borrowers more than white borrowers with similar credit profiles between 2004 and 2008. More»