History of Bank of America
| History of Bank of America can be traced back to the early 19th century. Amadeo Giannini is the founder, and there is an interesting story behind the origins of this bank. Giannini was the only person who was able to safely remove deposits out of the Bank of Italy building in San Francisco. He started lending money at a time, when all other banks in San Francisco were razed to the ground. |
He went on to establish the Bank of America and Italy in the year 1922 in Italy. This bank merged with Liberty Bank of America in 1927, resulting in the Bank of Italy National Trust and Savings Association. Later, this bank too merged with the Bank of America, Los Angeles, along with other holdings of the bank to form what we know today as the Bank of America. Giannini was the Head of the Bank of America and the co-chair person was Monnette.
The Bank of America continued its operation in California, and it was only in the 1980, when changes were made to the federal banking legislation that it began to diversify its operations to other States. The bank’s biggest acquisition came in 1992. It acquired its rival bank -- the Security Pacific Corporation and its subsidiaries. In the same year, it went on to acquire banks in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Arizona.
Acquisitions of the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago took place in the year 1994 and the Nations Bank Corporation followed thereafter in the year 1997. These powerful mergers and many more than happened after the millennium, and this resulted in making the Bank of America the biggest American bank holding company in the US.
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