Charlotte, North Carolina: Bank of America, the lender that bought stakes in foreign firms to expand overseas, will grow on its own by adding staff and offering services through Merrill Lynch, according to the company's head of global corporate banking.
"Merrill Lynch had three times as many relationships as we had at Bank of America" in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, Paul Donofrio said in a March 29 interview.
Emerging markets are "where we will find the most immediate opportunities," he said.
The addition of Merrill Lynch in January 2009 gives chief executive officer Brian Moynihan more resources to draw upon outside the United States as he maps a bigger international role for Bank of America.
His firm is the largest US lender by assets, with only 17 per cent tied to foreign nations. Former chief executive Kenneth D. Lewis invested in international banks in Argentina, China and Mexico rather than building internal operations.
Moynihan, 50, has said he wants the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank to concentrate on internal growth rather than acquisitions.
"For Bank of America Merrill Lynch to reach its full potential, we have to be great outside the United States," said Donofrio, 50, a London-based executive who reports to Tom Montag, president of global banking and markets.
One of the fields he's targeting is treasury services, used by companies to manage payments to suppliers and vendors, collect receivables and to predict cash positions and then invest and borrow accordingly. Bank of America led in 2009 with a 20 per cent market share in the United States, according to an Ernst & Young survey.
Bank of America's foreign units, which exclude Canada, reported a $7.3 billion (Dh26.8 billion) profit in 2009, including a $4.7 billion gain from the sale of shares in China Construction Bank.
