page_title: Bank of America
section_title: Acquisition of Countrywide Financial
hierarchical_section_title: Bank of America / History / 2001 to present / Acquisition of Countrywide Financial
context_page_description: The Bank of America Corporation is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, with central hubs in New York City, London, Hong Kong, Dallas, and Toronto. Founded in San Francisco, Bank of America was formed through NationsBank's acquisition of BankAmerica in 1998. It is the second largest banking institution in the United States, after JPMorgan Chase, and the ninth largest financial services company in the world. As a part of the Big Four, it services approximately 10.73% of all American bank deposits, in direct competition with Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase. Its primary financial services revolve around commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking.
  One branch of its history stretches back to Bank of Italy, founded by Amadeo Pietro Giannini in 1904, which provided Italian immigrants who faced service discrimination various banking options. Originally headquartered in San Francisco, California, Giannini acquired Banca d'America e d'Italia in 1922.
context_section_description: On August 23, 2007, the company announced a $2 billion repurchase agreement for Countrywide Financial. This purchase of preferred stock was arranged to provide a return on investment of 7.25% per annum and provided the option to purchase common stock at a price of $18 per share.
  On January 11, 2008, Bank of America announced that it would buy Countrywide Financial for $4.1 billion. In March 2008, it was reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was investigating Countrywide for possible fraud relating to home loans and mortgages. This news did not hinder the acquisition, which was completed in July 2008, giving the bank a substantial market share of the mortgage business, and access to Countrywide's resources for servicing mortgages. The acquisition was seen as preventing a potential bankruptcy for Countrywide. Countrywide, however, denied that it was close to bankruptcy. Countrywide provided mortgage servicing for nine million mortgages valued at $1.4 trillion as of December 31, 2007.
  This purchase made Bank of America Corporation the leading mortgage originator and servicer in the U.S., controlling 20–25% of the home loan market. The deal was structured to merge Countrywide with the Red Oak Merger Corporation, which Bank of America created as an independent subsidiary. It has been suggested that the deal was structured this way to prevent a potential bankruptcy stemming from large losses in Countrywide hurting the parent organization by keeping Countrywide bankruptcy remote. Countrywide Financial has changed its name to Bank of America Home Loans.
  
  In December 2011, the Justice Department announced a $335 million settlement with Bank of America over discriminatory lending practice at Countrywide Financial. Attorney General Eric Holder said a federal probe found discrimination against qualified African-American and Latino borrowers from 2004 to 2008. He said that minority borrowers who qualified for prime loans were steered into higher-interest-rate subprime loans.
caption: Chart showing the trajectory of BOA share value and transaction volume during the 2007–2009 Financial Crisis