Bank of America 2008 Annual Report Download - page 14

Q. Why should I continue to have
confi dence in Bank of America?
A. If you’re a customer, the single
biggest reason you should continue to
have confidence in Bank of America is
our strength and resilience in the face
of adversity. In 2008, despite one of
the worst economic environments in
recent memory, Bank of America
earned more than $4 billion, making us
one of the top performing U.S. banks
for the year. We are very much “open
for business,” extending credit of more
than $115 billion in the fourth quarter
alone. Our ability to stand by our
customers and our determination to
help them through this time of crisis
sets us apart from the competition and
enables us to confidently say that we
will continue to deliver outstanding
value for our customers.
From a shareholder perspective, our
size and scale offer a distinct competi-
tive advantage. In addition to our
leading retail banking franchise, we
have market-leading positions in many
key products and a stable source of
funding through our highly liquid
deposit base. The breadth of our
businesses gives us a powerful and
diverse earnings stream that is a
consistent source of new capital.
For example, in 2008, in spite of all
the challenges, we generated almost
$31.3 billion in pre-tax income before
subtracting provision expense. All of
these factors, combined with our
strong management team and proven
track record of execution, give us
resilience and durability.
Q. What steps is Bank of America
taking to manage through the
current economic turmoil?
A. Our strategy is clear and straightfor-
ward — we will continue to focus
on delivering great value to our
customers. In times like these, it would
be easy to sit on the sidelines and wait
for better days. But we didn’t become a
premier financial services company by
letting others lead, and we have
no intention of doing so now.
Over the past few months, we have
taken a number of important steps to
strengthen our company and position
ourselves for growth. We’ve raised
capital and fortified our balance sheet
in order to continue to support the
millions of Americans who rely on us
for banking, credit and investment
services. We’ve made the hard choice
to reduce our common stock dividend
to $0.01 per share. We’ve taken a
conservative view of managing our
liquidity position, which we believe is
one of the strongest in our industry.
We’ve rigorously managed expenses
and announced significant reductions
Questions & Answers
Our Leadership
Answering
Shareholder
Questions
Bank of America regularly receives inquiries about our strategy,
results and financial position. Below are answers to frequent
shareholder questions.
12 Bank of America 2008