Bank of America invests US$50m in black-owned banks in equality drive

[NEW YORK] Bank of America invested US$50 million in three Black-owned banks as part of its US$1 billion pledge over four years to advance racial equality.

The second-largest US lender took equity stakes of about 5 per cent in three minority depository institutions: First Independence in Detroit, Liberty Financial Services in New Orleans and SCCB Financial in Columbia, South Carolina, it said in a statement. Bank of America also is in discussions with several other African-American and Hispanic lenders serving low- and moderate-income communities that are expected to be completed within a year.

"The idea of this is to join forces," Bank of America Vice Chairman Anne Finucane said in an interview. "It's all with the goal of creating capacity to lend more and create wealth for minorities and people of colour." The bank also laid out plans for other initiatives aimed at promoting racial and economic equality, including US$200 million allocated to direct equity investments in Black- and Hispanic-owned businesses.

BLOOMBERG