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Jason Miczek / Reuters
Demonstrators march on the Bank of America headquarters in in Charlotte, N.C. during a protest timed to coincide with the company's annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday.
Hundreds of protesters converged on the Bank of America shareholder meeting in Charlotte, N.C. on Wednesday, dozens of them entering the proceedings to criticize the behemoth financial institution’s policies on mortgages, worker rights, tax avoidance, banking fees, foreclosures and energy financing.
Organizers said there were so many reasons to dislike the bank that it was relatively easy to pull together a large group, some from as far away as Portland, San Francisco and New York.
"It was a convergence," said Jen Soriano, a member of UNITY Alliance, a group under the umbrella protest organizer called 99 Percent Power.
"Whether it is workers who have been laid off, homeowners and also tenants who have been evicted from foreclosed homes … or people who live in coal country in the Appalachia whose home in a broader sense are being destroyed by mountain top removal mining …," Soriano said. "Bank of America is pretty much the worst of the worst in terms of banks."
About 750 people marched from three directions to the Bank of American corporate headquarters, and six people had been arrested by 3 p.m. ET, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Some of the protesters — organizers estimated more than 100, but there was no way to confirm that — had purchased one share of Bank of America stock so they could enter the meeting and make their complaints directly before the bank’s CEO Brian Moynihan.
Thirty 99 Percent Power activists spoke during the 90 minute meeting, according to the group.
Unlike similar proceedings at a Wells Fargo shareholders meeting a few weeks earlier, the protesting shareholders were not forced to leave, but instead allowed to voice their objections to the bank’s policy — many related to its financing of coal related projects.
The Bank of America is the top financier of the U.S. coal industry "from cradle to grave," according to Kerul Dyer, communications manager for the San Francisco-based Rainforest Action Network. According to the group, in the past two years, Bank of America has poured $6.7 billion into funding companies engaged in a range of coal-related activities, including mountain-top removal to access coal in the Appalachian Mountains, energy generation and building coal export terminals.
"As the leading financier of coal, Bank of America funds birth defects, disease and death when it lends money to coal companies,” Bob Kincaid, president of the Appalachian Health Community Emergency. "I intend to see that Bank of America and its shareholders confront these brutal realities and demand that the bank stop financing this assault on our communities."
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A Bank of America spokesperson said the bank finances a broad range of energy projects, including a renewable energy initiative launched in 2007, through which it has invested $17.9 billion, including money spent on two of the world’s largest solar power projects.
"In 2011 alone we invested $3.65 billion in renewable energy, energy efficiency and other forms of low-carbon energy," said Brittany Shehan, a spokesperson on the company's environmental policies. "Environmental groups would have it be a bank issue; it’s really a national issue."
Coal — which has adverse environmental impacts but is relatively inexpensive — is used to generate about half of the electricity consumed in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
"Any way you slice the numbers there are so many other companies that have a stake in this value chain. Coal is a part of our economy and a big part of our energy supply," Shehan said. She did not confirm the coal-investment number provided by environmental critics.
The environmental groups also protested Bank of America’s funding of companies that extract coal by mountain-top removal using explosives.
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Shehan said that the bank in 2008 adopted a new policy on mountain-top removal. But the policy to "phase out financing of companies whose predominant method of extracting coal is through mountain top removal" does not rule out all finance of the companies engaged in the practice.
The bank was also under attack over its lending and foreclosure practices, as it has been since the start of the mortgage crisis. The protesters from 99 Percent Power called on the bank to halt foreclosures and offer principal reduction for homeowners whose properties are underwater.
Bank of America is the second largest U.S. bank holding company as measured by assets.
The bank on Tuesday announced that it had sent letters to more than 200,000 customers "who may be eligible for forgiveness of a portion of the principal balance on their mortgage" under the terms of a recent settlement among five major banks, 49 state attorneys general and the federal government.
In a news release, it said that customers who qualify for the program will save an estimated 30 percent on their mortgage payments.
Event organizers said they would have 1,000 protesters, but Estes said Wednesday's crowd in Charlotte was closer to 750, the Charlotte Observerreported, citing Charlotte-Mecklenberg police Maj. Jeff Estes.
"There's been no property damage, and nobody was injured," Estes told the Observer. "We're pleased with the outcome."
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Leave a Comment:
OWS has has to hate something, may as well be Bank of America. They certainly are annoying.
I don't trust BoA and I'm more than happy with my Credit Union, but they brought up a valid point with their investment in renewable energy. However, one good deed does not offset a bad deed. If I kill one person, and save another - I still killed someone. Just invest in renewable energy and let the market either ween people off coal use or force the industry adapt safer/cleaner standards.
By the way, you can't honestly be trying to deflect blame off of BoA. They've done more than their fair share of trouble to earn it via robo-signing foreclosures, borderline predatory fees, and so much more.
Latest Bank of America trick. If any of your accounts are over drawn, even by a penny, they allow you 24 hours to make it right. But what they do now is not notify you until after midnight that you were overdrawn the day before, say the correction needs to be made the same day, and charge you $35 dollars for every single charge on your account that has happened in the past 24 hours because you did not fix your account the "same Day." I consider them to be a lying, thieving, P.O.S.
Timothy - why are you overdrawing your account? WHOSE FAULT IS THAT?
With mobile banking and online banking, you can know your balance to the PENNY at any given time, AND have regular e-mails sent to you with the daily balance and whenever a check or ATM deduction is made.
You can also set up a warning e-mail that will tell you when your balance is low.
You can also set up to cover overdrafts on your checking, with money from your savings.
And yes, these are all free services.
Here's a clue: If you are one of those people who always has only $25 in their account (Like I was, when I was younger) no bank will be your friend. They will all charge you bounce fees. They don't want the business of insolvent people who bounce checks.
And by the way, bouncing checks (which you call being "overdrawn") is a crime in most states.
Get your finances in order, and the banks will be your friend.
Be broke and in debt all the time to have bling, beer, pizza, and pot, and the banks will slam the door in your face.
I know this firsthand, having operated in both modes.
Robert...
Please enjoy a nice tall glass of STFU
American Socialist... Your comment was completely uncalled for. You may not agree with Robert but telling him to STFU is beyond civil discourse.
Socialist
I see that you can't stand the truth.
I see that you don't believe in Personal Responsibility.
I see why you are a Socialist.
Robert is mostly right. Banks are in the business to make money, and loaning money to people who need it in the form of loans and overdrafts is a big part of that. People need to take personal responsibility for their finances and avail themselves of options out there. If you don't like paying overdraft fees, tell your bank not to let the transaction go through. If you don't like paying interest, pay your credit cards off every month and save for big purchases.
I too have lived on both sides of the spectrum, but I've been with the same bank for the last 15 years. When I was younger I got hit with quite a few overdraft fees, but I accepted that as my responsibility. The bank doesn't dictate how much I work or how much I spend.
Where I might disagree is that I'm sure a lot of banks love to have the consumers who are a little less than responsible. Those $35 overdraft hits (or whatever the fee is today) are easy money for them...
Mike...who said I was civil ;)
Slodon....quit oozing derp please...not doing to much for the human race here.
I'm a socialist because I believe in fighting for the common good of my country, not for how much money is in my bank account.
I just had lunch with a friend who was complaining about how hard it was trying to terminate her account because she'd moved. I asked her who she banked with. You guessed it. I laughed when she told me.
There are lots of reasons that B of A has earned the disgust of so many people. For me it was easy. After a 30% down payment, I found myself 25% upside down. I tried to sell for 3 years, watching the price fall, keeping my account current. B of A's response? Go pound sand unless you are 90 days late. Then when I finally found a buyer, B of A told me how much they would accept to complete the short sale. When I got it for them, they rejected their own offer, and then sold their own REO (same house model and quality) around the corner from me to my buyer for $50,000 LESS than the price they made me get, and then they rejected. Then they ruined my credit anyway. Think it is time to sue them?
BC, your experience is unfortunately so typical today. I remember when bankers and banks were held in high esteem. Notice I say I remember as that sentiment has long evaporated. I originally supported the bailout of the banks for fear of a far bigger impact on the economy. Today, I would actually support the "let them fail," sentiment or a full government take over and divestiture of big banks. Why? You would think after being so close to collapse they'd learn but obviously not. Wells Fargo is robo foreclosing currently and still doing the same as before.
NCNB was such a good bank and went to corporate scuz ball of America...........they forgot the values that are important.
I think what put me totally against BofA was when its CEO, Moynihan, came out of the gate saying crap like this during the whole debit card fee fiasco:
You mean, like the huge profit from being bailed out by MY tax money? So my bank wants my tax dollars and wants to stick me with a charge? All the while laying off people and closing branches...
I say to Moynihan: go f--- yourself.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/05/news/economy/bank_of_america_moynihan/index.htm
I especially like how you weened people off of using checks so it would save you money and then you wanted to add a charge onto debit cards after a certain amount of time where people would remember that fact.
I learned many years ago not to trust BoA. Their policy then was to charge bounced check fees BEFORE the checks were posted to the checking account. That way the checks were sure to bounce. Then tried and tried to convince me that it's only logical to apply fees before credits but I wasn't buying any of it. I tried to show them that if they hadn't charged the fees there would have been plenty of money in the account so the checks wouldn't have bounced at all. That just didn't fit into the logic of their universe. I also found it very odd that all my checks for the month were posted on the same night even though they had been written at different days all during the month. They had no explanation for that at all.
I removed all my money from BoA immediately and put it into a credit union instead. That was many years ago. I haven't had a problem since.
I'm pretty hard Right so take this with a grain of salt :)
For years I had all my accounts at BofA, going back to the NCNB days. Mortgage, Credit Cards (Except my AMEX), Banking and Investment. It was nice to have easy access to everything in one place and they where a great bank. But then about two years ago I started noticing a lot of "Fees". After calling them, visiting the branch and bitching up a storm they waived a few fees but could never tell me what they were for. Next month more fees. They also got rid of all the knowledgeable staff in my local branch and replaced them with kids who can't remember a name during a 10 minuet conversation and seem only capable of reading what is displayed on a computer screen.
Long and short I moved my accounts of more than 20 years to USAA and I can't be happier. I still wish I had a local bank but mostly just out of nostalgia. Reality is I don't needed one. I am even refining my mortgage to a 15 year with USAA and getting a killer rate.
I don't have the hate for BofA that some do. But they have lost their focus and don't really act like they care about customers. If you don't care about keeping me then there is a good chance you won't.
I'm not that hard right, John (lol) but I totally get your opinion.
USAA rocks. They're good to our service men and women, they're good to their families, and their good to their customers.
Plus, it's pretty nice being able to take a picture of a check and text it to USAA to have it deposited. Was a little scary the first time doing that, though. haha
I also support credit unions. They're a good way to bank as well.
The first and most consistent financial advice I've ever gotten was 'dont do business with BofA". They suck on multiple levels.
Bank of America? in short - BOA; and do you know what a BOA is?
According to the dictionary, a boa is any of large snakes that kill by constriction. So I guess there is no surprise Bank of America kills by squeezing consumers.
Obama is having the Democratic National Convention at Bank of America Stadium for his acceptance speech. Could it be a mistake, or more than likely is it more of "Do as I say, not as I do"... Talk about Hypocrisy, Democrats rule this category... Should be interesting how they handle this blunder.
Hypocrisy knows no party, it is an equal opportunity offender.
I use B of A and thing they are good. I guess OWS has to protest something.
Alright already! Stop hating BofA. The Supreme Court has ruled that corporations have 'human' status, so rest assured they have a conscience. Yes, corps have a "soul" now. So quit hurting their "feelings" and get your nose out of the CEO compensation too. That man is entitled to as much as he can 'earn' even at the expense of employee wages, bonuses and benefits as well as shareholder income. If you want to get mad, get mad at Ken Lewis. He was the one who bought Countrywide without the slightest due diligence.
Even though I detect the obviously stink of sarcasm corporations will never be people until the are prosecuted under the same laws as people.
Tell that to Romney.
Human status?? Oh, so when compaines have to file bankruptcy they should be subject to the same standards as people when it comes to filing Bankruptcy. SO...
Every board member is subject to the means test, must not have more than $50 in their bank accounts, may only have one car, etc...etc...
But for some reason, this does not apply....intresting huh??
So they want all the good benifits of being a "person" but none of the negitave that comes along with it.
This is corperate welfair, %100 to a T!
why anyone would do business with these huge banking conglomerates is beyond me. i have had the same bank for over forty years, its a small community bank / S&L yet offers every service the "big" banks do with a couple of exceptions, like... they are solvent,... and do not sell loans. its your money people. spend wisely when push comes to shove there will be nobody there to save your butt YOU are not to "large to fail ".
Why? Well use of ATMs across the nation without fees, good web based access to funds including smart phone apps, amongst others. I am not a BofA customer but I can certainly understand it. Besides when it comes to mortgages it is not like you have a choice. In 12 years my mortgage has been sold to 4 different banks.
Credit unions have all those things now.
Gouranga: I have all that and more from my CREDIT UNION! Including check deposits via phone camera.
You do NOT need a big bank for any of that. All you need is get off your butt and investigate what the local financial institutions actually have to offer without assuming you already know the answer. BTW, my credit union offers CD rates 4 times what BoA offers, and I can use any ATM anywhere on quite a number of nationwide ATM networks, and my phone app will find them and navigate me to them. All from a credit union!
Credit unions are parasites. Tax exempt because they are "non-profit". BS
I bought a house last year, used a mortgage broker, my loan was promptly sold to BoA. I just refinanced the mortgage through my credit union, who services their own mortgages and does not sell them. It was worth paying the costs of refinancing to get away from BoA, get a lower rate, and not have to worry that the mortgage will be sold to another rip-off bank. My CU has online deposits (scan checks with scanner and deposit), popmoney (I can directly wire money to anybody for free) I can use thousands of ATMs, etc. I have several credit cards but I rarely use any other than the CU Visa (6%). Credit Unions are the ONLY way to go, BoA can go away and I won't miss it one bit.highland58: I also refinaced my home about 2 years ago with B of A...big mistake. Took nearly 6 months to close the deal for absolutely no reason. Wife and I have over 800 credit scores and no debt other than the mortgage. B of A sucks.
Great bank with great service. I have had two mortgages with them (paid off both) and they charge NO FEES on my checking, savings, or ATM card.
And with their extensive network of ATMs, there is no need ever, to go out of network.
Plus, you can deposit checks at an ATM and they scan them right in.
Great online and mobile banking, too.
Worst of the worst? Hardly.
Once the Countrywide debacle is worked through, this bank will rebound mightly.
And by the way, it was Countrywide that wrote all those bad mortgages, not BoA - they just bought Countrywide at the most inopportune time.
Their credit cards are not very good (interest rates too high) and their wire transfer fees are staggering. But other than that, it is a very good bank from a customer service point of view.
Provided you have money, of course, and are not one of those whiners who bounces a check ordering Dominos.
All banks will nick you if you do stupid things like that.
Great... more kooks protesting.
Glad to see groups associated with OWS are setting their sights on specific targets, it is only the beginning.
I read the Rolling Stones article on BofA.... WOWZERS.... they are the scum of the scum. As much as it would be great if they keeled over from their own corruption the government of course with all the financial cronies involved will be happy to let our tax payer dollars pay for their evil ways. EVIL = BofA
We quit BofA years ago because of their labyrinthine rules and all their hidden charges. They certainly rank among the worst of the super-too-big-to-fail banks.
While I do not agree with a lot of their points, I have to give hats off to the protestors. They bought shares to go before the bank, they did not resort to destroying property or hurting people. The acutally made points and demands, well done.
I wish more of these antibank protestors would look at buying stock, and doing things that actually can effect change in these companies. Maybe, just maybe if they started a trend that included these tactics and not setting up rat infested tent cities in public parks, they would see some more support.
Yes, the protesters did things legally. Actually, most do. But if 20 people in a crowd of thousands start breaking windows and setting cars on fire, it gives the whole crowd a bad rep.
On the other hand, it is also legal to boycott the big banks, and that is the route I choose to making my feelings known. Maybe when I retire (if I ever do!) and have time to go to shareholder meetings and mouth off, I will do that, but right now I need to keep my job and try to earn a living.
I have stellar credit, and at one time had a BoA credit card. IMO BoA is definitely the worst of the worst. Among many, many other examples I know of, my personal experience was this: early one weekend morning I received a call, purportedly from BoA, claiming that my payment was late. This shocked me, given that I am never, ever late with payments. When I asked how far overdue, I was told that it had to be at least 30 days or they would not be calling me, and did I want to go ahead and make a payment immediately. I declined, and investigated further. Turns out my latest payment wasn't even due yet for 5 more days! Liars. Thieves. Jerks. I believe that call was some sort of "retaliation," b/c a few months before that, while I was traveling, they cut off my credit card, claiming that I had failed to remit sufficient payment. When I advised them that I had in fact paid them approximately ten days prior, in an amount that was 4 times the minimum payment, they insisted that it wasn't enough. They said that they didn't care if I was traveling (I was on day 2 of a ten day trip, and that was my only credit card), that I had to send more money or they were cutting off my card, and then they did. I advised them at that point that I'm an attorney, and that they weren't going to like what happens next if I check my records and disprove what they're telling me, which I then followed up upon my return with a letter stating all of the statutes and regulations that they had violated, and that if they engaged in any of the same conduct again I'd be pursuing any and all legal actions available to me. BoA sucks. At best they're unprofessional, and at worst they are fraudulent and criminal. I'll never do business with them again if I can possibly avoid it, and I really hope that many others do the same. I'd love to see them out of business.
The thing holding the economy back is that banks are holding onto money and being too conservative in lending the money for good projects. True, they are stuck with alot of mortgages but they were part of the problem. It's time to take what you can get on these mortgages and start loaning money to business to create jobs. Every loan is a risk but even reputable business folks are having a hard time getting loans for good projects. It's not the time for banks to cower in the corner and not let the money flow to projects. If they continue to do so we're doomed to little growth.
Yes, Bank of America is one of the worst banks out there. 3 days before closing on a house they sold it out from under me to a third party investor... and who had to fork out the money for the inspections and appraisal that were already done.... yeah ME! There was a signed contract, but they were still allowed to get away with basically stealing from me.
Every good Democrat should be sick to their stomach that the National convention is in that city.
B of A....worst lender, worst employer and worst overall bank as far as hidden fees!
For sure. I had CDs with another bank that BoA bought. Shortly thereafter they forced me to accept online statements that I did not want, changed the grace period for changing a maturing CD from 10 days to 5, would not accept a choice from me about what I wanted to do on maturity until it had matured (the bank they bought let me do it in the 30 days prior to maturity) and other changes. All of these changes were unilateral on their part and in violation of all of the rules I was given when I bought the CDs. No surprise, I didn't renew any of the CDs - I just took my money and ran. They also tried to send my funds by mail via cashier's check and charge me $25 for the privilege of getting my money more slowly, but I was smart enough to ask a about that and demand they use EFT instead, at no charge. Boa sucks! I will NEVER do business with them again.
After over 30 years we severed our relationship with BoA last October. We migrated everything to a credit union and have never looked back.
BofA helped finance the CIA finance the latin-american counter-revolutionaries back in the 80s. And by "help" i mean they were the primary financial engine behind that. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed across El Salvador, Panama, Columbia, Nicaragua. The CEO at the time (forget his name) was practically in bed with GHWB. Another chapter of our history that has been conveniently forgotten. High school history textbooks today don't even mention the Iran-Contra affair, and that was only 25 years ago.
B of A calls its political retainees, who call the police in to break up any protest, and presto - the American people are silenced. See, government works.
For the Love of God here,...
Dump the big banks, and do business with a Credit Union...
Yeah, I know,... It has the word "union" in it, and it might be hard for some of the assembled teapublicans to take the plunge..
But I highly doubt, anyone would regret making the switch...
BOA is an automated non-feeling money vacuum who does not give one damn about it's customers.
Just yesterday I got an overnight letter saying my house note was two months late and I risked foreclosure.
I was right on time.
I called and got this. "Sorry there was a computer problem".
Well your computer problem cost me time and I almost stroked out.
Bank of America is allowed to make adverse policies to its employees, customers and even shareholders because they have a sympathetic ear in congress. Bofa hires a lobbyist or several very well-paid lobbyists. The lobbyist sole job is to find the weak link in congress and push BofA's agenda. BofA is working to make money at all costs and it's their right as a business. What needs to change are the congressmen and women that allow BofA so much latitude.
The big banks all need to be broken up.
Last year, famous Democrat/investor, Warren Buffet, invested $5 Billion dollars in Bank of America. Perhaps the OWS should ignore he is a Democrat and protest that 1%er in Omaha.
Bank of America is a criminal organization, and I can prove it with my statements which show that they manipulate dates to change your deposit so they can collect extra fees on your account. Bank of America is one of the worst entities ever in the history of mankind. The real problem is there are a lot more companies just like it and they are growing fast; the oligarchy has arrived.
oligarchy: I agree....Obama is a perfect example along with the democratic party