Bank of America in a New York state of mind? Will it move its HQ from Charlotte? (2009, home)

[vrooom]

CEO search reportedly expanded to include execs who want to live in NY rather than bank's base of Charlotte, N.C. Might a headquarters move do the trick?

Bank of America didn't return a call seeking comment. But bringing the next head of the nation's largest bank here would be akin to a headquarters move—arguably the highest profile relocation of a big corporation's headquarters since Boeing Corp. left Seattle for Chicago in 2001.

Said Thomas Brown, CEO of New York-based hedge fund Second Curve Capital: "There aren't too many people around the world who think that Charlotte is a major financial center."

Zing!


Is Bank of America in a NY state of mind? - Crain's New York Business


Is Charlotte doomed?

[18Montclair]

If they lose BofA, that will be a major bummer for Charlotte.

For NY, its just another massive company HQed in Manhattan. LOL

[grapico]

Why not just move BoA back to San Francisco, their original home, and plenty of talent easy to recruit talent... That is where their other prominent bank went, Wachovia, which was bought out by Wells Fargo.

[HenryAlan]

BofA at this point is made up of so many predecessor banks, it's hard to trace lineage so specifically to San Francisco. I never understood the move to Charlotte, though. When it comes to major financial institutions in this country, you are talking New York, San Francisco, and Boston. Any other place just does not have the concentration of talent required.

[rubber_factory]

Breaking News:

New York rag rags on Charlotte. Film at 11.

[rubber_factory]

Originally Posted by grapico

Why not just move BoA back to San Francisco, their original home, and plenty of talent easy to recruit talent... That is where their other prominent bank went, Wachovia, which was bought out by Wells Fargo.

A) Bank of America HQ was not moved from San Francisco. It's SF HQ was dissolved when the bank was bought by Nationsbank.

B) Wachovia's HQ is still in Charlotte, despite the fact that Wachovia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WFC.

[mdp_az]

I doubt BofA would move everyone out of Charlotte--probably just a lot of the top brass. It still hurts Charlotte considerably though, especially as they try and recruite other Fortune 500s to locate there.

[John Shaft]

All that "talent" in banking in the last 4-5 years really didn't result in much except for the taxpayers to give money to the banks so they didn't have to deal with the consequences of their horrible policy decisions/outright fraud.

*I* think the banking industry needs less "talent" from Kellogg, Wharton, Harvard, etc. Keep the HQs out of NYC and Boston etc.

[grapico]

Originally Posted by rubber_factory

A) Bank of America HQ was not moved from San Francisco. It's SF HQ was dissolved when the bank was bought by Nationsbank.

B) Wachovia's HQ is still in Charlotte, despite the fact that Wachovia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WFC.

True, but Bank of America was originally in San Francisco... it was the biggest buyout ever when it happened.

B, not exactly...

The Federal Reserve unanimously approved the merger with Wells Fargo on October 12, 2008. The merger is, however, contingent on certain conditions, that the Federal Reserve has yet to announce.
The combined company will be headquartered in San Francisco, home to Wells Fargo. However, Charlotte will be the headquarters for the combined company's East Coast banking operations, and Wachovia Securities will remain in St. Louis. Three members of the Wachovia board will join the Wells Fargo board. It will be the largest bank branch network in the United States. So while it is still there now, it is only a matter of time.

[cpterp]

It's a similar thing with CNN and Atlanta. Most of the high-profile reporters and employees are in the Time Warner center in New York and Washington, while the "headquarters" are in Atlanta. The Southern cities have the appeal of a lower cost of doing business, but the Northern cities have more amenities and long established communites in many industries. Recently many companies have been moving South because of the better business environment (in terms of regulation and costs), but some such as AOL (moved to New York from Virginia) are moving back.