On February 15, the Economic Club hosted Brian Moynihan, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Bank of America. Moynihan provided an overview of the impact of Bank of America’s role as a large financial institution in the U.S. and global economies, and shared his views on issues such as tax reform, and financial regulation such as the Dodd-Frank legislation that provides oversight for the nation’s financial industry.
Moynihan noted that the major challenge larger banks face in the United States is ensuring the stability of the economy while continuing to drive responsible growth. “At the end of the day, banks reflect the economy… [S]ince you can’t control [the economy], you just sort of say how do you be resilient if [the economy is not growing].” Regardless of overall economic conditions, he said, growing the bank with responsible risk and sustainability always remains important.
Regarding the recently passed tax reform, Moynihan predicted that it will be beneficial for the country as a whole, as it lowers the corporate tax rate, allowing companies to provide direct benefits to its employees via stock plans and bonuses as a result. He also described a key business challenge of balancing Bank of America’s digital and retail customers as the number of digital customers continues to increase over time. With 4,500 physical branches and nearly 34 million digital customers, “What you couldn’t do is deny the trend of digitization. You have to disrupt your own company,” he explained.
To view additional highlights and excerpts from the event, please click here.
View news coverage of the event featuring Moynihan here.
