Bank of America 1999 Annual Report Download - page 22

As the world moved toward a more uni-
fied global market for financial services,
Bank of America focused its 1999 efforts
on creating a new kind of organization
that will set the standard in corporate
banking and investment banking by
effectively integrating these two activities.
This integration will marry the
many strengths of a powerful banking
company with the far reaching,
innovative capabilities of investment
banking and product specialists. By
doing this successfully, we will bring
our targeted clients — both issuers and
investors — ideas that will set us apart
from the competition.
This new approach builds on the
already impressive franchise created by
Bank of America.
We have more lead relationships with
large corporate clients than any other
U.S. bank and serve a wide base of
institutional investor clients. Our
special focus is on U.S. corporations,
multinationals, large regional companies
around the globe and investors that
benefit from our broad capabilities
and reach.
Our objective is to thoroughly
understand each client’s business needs
and provide differentiated service by
delivering tailored financial solutions.
Explains Mike Murray, president of
Global Corporate & Investment Banking:
“We are building a culture that will work
effectively for clients. It is clear that busi-
ness needs have become far more complex
and sophisticated in recent years — to the
point where it is very challenging for a
single individual to deliver all of the
bank’s products, services and expertise.”
To address this issue, Bank of America
has focused delivery of products and
solutions through client teams. Each
team is led by a single banker and
includes experienced professionals
with skills carefully chosen to meet the
specific needs of the client.
“I firmly believe the most important
organizational unit in Bank of America
today has nothing to do with organiza-
tion charts; it is the client team,” says
Murray. “By ensuring that each team is
as good as it can be — and we intend
to do just that — we will have a huge
sustainable competitive advantage.”
The team serves a dual purpose.
First, it is an effective vehicle for
communicating and coordinating with
our clients and among the team members.
Second, it facilitates the process of
developing innovative, effective financial
solutions. Rather than depending on one
person to develop these solutions for
clients, the team allows us to leverage the
skills, knowledge and experience of all
team members. This enables us to analyze
problems thoroughly and develop tailored
solutions for our clients’needs.
“Business is so competitive today that
we must be absolutely first class in client
work,” says Murray. “We must also have
absolutely first-class products, and we
must be very adept at putting the two
together to create valuable solutions for
our clients.”
A new sta
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Banc of America Securities has been the
primary investment banker for fast-grow-
ing JDS Uniphase Corporation of Ottawa,
Canada, and San Jose, California. Banc of
America Securities served as the compa-
ny’s lead manager on its 1995 and 1996
equity financings and as co-lead manager
on the company’s $950-million equity
financing in 1999. Banc of America
Securities also served as financial advisor
to JDS Uniphase in its pending acquisition
of Optical Coating Laboratories. Chief
Executive Officer Kevin Kalkhoven (second
from left) meets with members of the