Global Finance magazine (GFmag.com) has named Bank of America as the Best Bank in the United States as part of its World’s Best Banks 2013 Awards. The full list of winners will be announced in the magazine’s May issue.
“Bank of America, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, has made excellent progress since the financial crisis in restructuring its operations,” Joseph D. Giarraputo, Global Finance’s publisher, said.
The Federal Reserve recently approved the bank’s capital plan. Bank of America will return capital to its shareholders by repurchasing up to $5 billion of common stock and redeeming about $5.5 billion in preferred stock. Bank of America granted nearly $30 billion in relief to more than 370,000 homeowners last year through programs of the National Mortgage Settlement. The bank funded more than $22 billion in mortgage loans in the fourth quarter of 2012, up 41% from a year earlier. The bank has increased its deposits and boosted its fee income from investment banking. It also more than doubled its profits from wealth management last year. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank has demonstrated that its acquisition of Merrill Lynch in September 2008 is paying off. Winners of Global Finance’s best bank awards were selected based on performance over the past year and other subjective criteria, including reputation and management excellence. Global Finance made the selections after extensive consultations with bankers, corporate financial executives and analysts throughout the world.