Bank of America 2009 Annual Report Download - page 29

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and
Results of Operations
This report may contain, and from time to time our management may make,
certain statements that constitute forward-looking statements. Words such
as “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates” and other similar
expressions or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “should,” “would”
and “could” are intended to identify such forward-looking statements.
These statements are not historical facts, but instead represent the current
expectations, plans or forecasts of Bank of America Corporation and its
subsidiaries (the Corporation) regarding the Corporation’s integration of the
Merrill Lynch and Countrywide acquisitions and related cost savings, future
results and revenues, credit losses, credit reserves and charge-offs, delin-
quency trends, nonperforming asset levels, level of preferred dividends,
service charges, the closing of the sales of Columbia Management
(Columbia) and First Republic Bank, effective tax rate, noninterest expense,
impact of changes in fair value of Merrill Lynch structured notes, impact of
new accounting guidance regarding consolidation on capital and reserves,
mortgage production, the effect of various legal proceedings discussed in
“Litigation and Regulatory Matters” in Note 14 – Commitments and Con-
tingencies to the Consolidated Financial Statements and other matters
relating to the Corporation and the securities that we may offer from time to
time. These statements are not guarantees of future results or perform-
ance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are diffi-
cult to predict and often are beyond the Corporation’s control. Actual
outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in, or
implied by, the Corporation’s 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 discussed elsewhere in this report, including
under Item 1A. “Risk Factors of this Annual Report on Form 10-K,” and in
any of the Corporation’s other subsequent Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) filings: negative economic conditions that adversely
affect the general economy, housing prices, job market, consumer con-
fidence and spending habits which may affect, among other things, the
credit quality of our loan portfolios (the degree of the impact of which is
dependent upon the duration and severity of these conditions); the Corpo-
ration’s modification policies and related results; the level and volatility of
the capital markets, interest rates, currency values and other market
indices which may affect, among other things, our liquidity and the value
of our assets and liabilities and, in turn, our trading and investment
portfolios; changes in consumer, investor and counterparty confidence in,
and the related impact on, financial markets and institutions; the Corpo-
ration’s credit ratings and the credit ratings of our securitizations which
are important to the Corporation’s liquidity, borrowing costs and trading
revenues; estimates of fair value of certain of the Corporation’s assets
and liabilities which could change in value significantly from period to
period; legislative and regulatory actions in the United States (including
the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, the Credit Card Accountability Responsi-
bility and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 and related regulations) and
internationally which may increase the Corporation’s costs and adversely
affect the Corporation’s businesses and economic conditions as a whole;
the impact of litigation and regulatory investigations, including costs,
expenses, settlements and judgments; various monetary and fiscal poli-
cies and regulations of the U.S. and non-U.S. governments; changes in
accounting standards, rules and interpretations (including new accounting
guidance on consolidation) and the impact on the Corporation’s financial
statements; increased globalization of the financial services industry and
competition with other U.S. and international financial institutions; the
Corporation’s ability to attract new employees and retain and motivate
existing employees; mergers and acquisitions and their integration into
the Corporation, including our ability to realize the benefits and cost sav-
ings from and limit any unexpected liabilities acquired as a result of the
Merrill Lynch acquisition; the Corporation’s reputation; and decisions to
downsize, sell or close units or otherwise change the business mix of the
Corporation.
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 period amounts have been reclassified to conform to
current period presentation.
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