Bank of America 2015 Annual Report Download - page 21

Bank of America 2015 19
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
This report, the documents that it incorporates by reference and
the documents into which it may be incorporated by reference may
contain, and from time to time Bank of America Corporation
(collectively with its subsidiaries, the Corporation) and its
management may make certain statements that constitute forward-
looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified
by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current
facts. Forward-looking statements often use words such as
“anticipates,” “targets,” “expects,” “hopes,” “estimates,” “intends,”
“plans,” “goals,” “believes,” “continue,” "suggests" and other similar
expressions or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “may,”
“might,” “should,” “would” and “could.” Forward-looking statements
represent the Corporation’s current expectations, plans or forecasts
of its future results and revenues, and future business and economic
conditions more generally, and other future matters. These
statements are not guarantees of future results or performance and
involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
assumptions that are difficult to predict and are often beyond the
Corporation’s control. Actual outcomes and results may differ
materially from those expressed in, or implied by, any of these
forward-looking statements.
You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking
statement and should consider the following uncertainties and risks,
as well as the risks and uncertainties more fully discussed elsewhere
in this report, including under Item 1A. Risk Factors of our 2015
Annual Report on Form 10-K and in any of the Corporation’s
subsequent Securities and Exchange Commission filings: the
Corporation’s ability to resolve representations and warranties
repurchase and related claims, including claims brought by investors
or trustees seeking to distinguish certain aspects of the ACE
Securities Corp. v. DB Structured Products, Inc. (ACE) decision or to
assert other claims seeking to avoid the impact of the ACE decision;
the possibility that the Corporation could face servicing, securities,
fraud, indemnity, contribution or other claims from one or more
counterparties, including trustees, purchasers of loans,
underwriters, issuers, other parties involved in securitizations,
monolines or private-label and other investors; the possibility that
future representations and warranties losses may occur in excess
of the Corporation’s recorded liability and estimated range of
possible loss for its representations and warranties exposures; the
possibility that the Corporation may not collect mortgage insurance
claims; potential claims, damages, penalties, fines and reputational
damage resulting from pending or future litigation and regulatory
proceedings, including the possibility that amounts may be in excess
of the Corporation’s recorded liability and estimated range of
possible losses for litigation exposures; the possible outcome of
LIBOR, other reference rate and foreign exchange inquiries and
investigations; uncertainties about the financial stability and growth
rates of non-U.S. jurisdictions, the risk that those jurisdictions may
face difficulties servicing their sovereign debt, and related stresses
on financial markets, currencies and trade, and the Corporation’s
exposures to such risks, including direct, indirect and operational;
the impact of U.S. and global interest rates, currency exchange rates
and economic conditions; the possibility that future credit losses
may be higher than currently expected due to changes in economic
assumptions, customer behavior and other uncertainties; the
impact on the Corporation’s business, financial condition and
results of operations of a potential higher interest rate environment;
the impact on the Corporation’s business, financial condition and
results of operations from a protracted period of lower oil prices;
adverse changes to the Corporation’s credit ratings from the major
credit rating agencies; estimates of the fair value of certain of the
Corporation’s assets and liabilities; uncertainty regarding the
content, timing and impact of regulatory capital and liquidity
requirements, including the potential adoption of total loss-
absorbing capacity requirements; the potential for payment
protection insurance exposure to increase as a result of Financial
Conduct Authority actions; the possible impact of Federal Reserve
actions on the Corporation’s capital plans; the impact of
implementation and compliance with new and evolving U.S. and
international regulations, including, but not limited to, recovery and
resolution planning requirements, the Volcker Rule, and derivatives
regulations; a failure in or breach of the Corporation’s operational
or security systems or infrastructure, or those of third parties,
including as a result of cyber attacks and other similar matters.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are
made, and the Corporation undertakes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statement to reflect the impact of circumstances or
events that arise after the date the forward-looking statement was
made.
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements referred to in
the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations (MD&A) are incorporated by reference
into the MD&A. Certain prior-year amounts have been reclassified
to conform to current-year presentation. Throughout the MD&A,
the Corporation uses certain acronyms and abbreviations which
are defined in the Glossary.