Bank of America | CSR Report

Bank of America released its second annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report to provide an overview of the social and environmental impacts of its business operations and efforts to create value for shareholders, customers and clients, and communities the company serves globally. The report highlights the company’s efforts to promote fairness and transparency in its products and services; lending and investing activities in low-income and underserved communities; philanthropic investments to address immediate and long-term community needs; and company and customer-focused environmental initiatives.

Bank of America Transcript CSR Report Web Video

SUPER: Local Impact. Global Momentum. A conversation with Anne Finucane and Andrew Plepler.

V/O (Anne): Corporate social responsibility at Bank of America has grown in its definition and its outreach. In part because of necessity and in part because we’ve taken a more global approach.

SUPER: Anne Finucane Global Strategy and Marketing Officer

V/O (Anne): And the impact that any company has on the global marketplace begins at a local level. Our whole approach, whether it’s employment, philanthropy, volunteerism, business practices takes first into consideration, local markets because it is through the aggregation of those local markets that you can truly have a global impact.

SUPER: Andrew Plepler Corporate Social Responsibility Executive

V/O (Andrew): Part of what bank of America can do to revitalize the global economy is invest in many of the initiatives that are core to our strategy. We can be a catalyst for that evolution by financing some of the great innovation in solar in wind and alternative fuels. In Europe regulators are paying very close attention to corporate responsibility practices, in Latin America consumers are very aware of corporate citizenship and in Asia regulators and consumers are scrutinizing the corporate responsibility practices of companies. Whether you’re a company, whether you’re a small business or whether you’re an individual just looking for financial stability. We can meet all of those needs. If you’re a nonprofit that is looking to provide greater services to people who are really struggling, it is incumbent upon us to really demonstrate that we are a solution and I think that’s where corporate social responsibility can be a real engine for economic growth across the globe.

V/O (Anne): In terms of CSR it helps define who we are to our employees, who are our true ambassadors. It is the face of the company. Each of those individuals is the connection point to our customers, to our communities, to the world at large. There are reasons that we deserve some criticism, and we need to take all of that, be realistic be honest with ourselves and do better tomorrow than we did yesterday. This is the way that most companies need to look at CSR today and in the years to come.

SUPER: Bank of America (logo) Read the Bank of America Corporate social responsibility report at bankofamerica.com/csrreport

SPECIFIC RESULTS HIGHLIGHTED IN THE REPORT INCLUDE:

Substantially improving the company’s funding position by increasing capital, including selling non-core assets, strengthening credit reserves, increasing liquidity and reducing debt.
Helping more than 693,000 homeowners purchase a home or refinance an existing mortgage with $151.8 billion in residential first mortgages, including more than 237,000 to low-and moderate-income borrowers.

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Raising $644 billion in capital for clients to help support economic expansion.
Originating more than $6.4 billion in new small business loans and commitments, and hiring more than 500 new small business bankers.
Financing two of the largest distributed rooftop solar projects in history to support a transition to cleaner, sustainable energy sources.
Integrating risk management with strategic, financial and customer-client planning to align with goals and responsibilities across the company.
Partnering with the Asia Society's Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative to bring together exceptional Asian leaders of tomorrow to address some of the region's most pressing challenges.
Investing more than $1.6 billion to help create more than 11,000 affordable housing units for families, seniors, veterans and people with special needs.
Providing more than $200 million in corporate philanthropy to address pressing issues such as affordable housing, financial education, disaster relief and more.
Building its leadership position in promoting volunteerism and service, with employees donating 1.5 million hours of volunteer service in 2011, a 15 percent increase from 2010.
Creating a Military Advisory Group to better coordinate programs across the company focused on supporting active military and veterans.

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