Bank of America Considering Plan to Sell Non-Core Assets
Bank of America (BAC) is planning to highlight billions of dollars worth of assets that it intends to sell or wind down.
The bank has told investors and analysts that it is considering disclosures on assets including loans, businesses and stakes that it considers non-core, The Financial Times reported without naming its sources. The non-core assets could be worth more than $100 billion.
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Disclosing these assets could lead to the bank taking aggressive steps to reduce its balance sheet, which is worth more than $2,300 billion.
"BofA would do itself and investors a great service if it gave greater clarity and details on the size and composition of its non-core assets," said Betsy Graseck, a Morgan Stanley analyst who recently met with Bank of America management.
The non-core assets could include structured-credit products and impaired loans that Bank of America acquired when it bought mortgage lender Countrywide Financial.
Bank of America declined to comment to The Financial Times.
Bank of America has already sold some assets, including shares in MasterCard, Spain's Grupo Financiero Santander and Brazil's Itau Unibanco. These sales earned the bank $10 billion in gross proceeds at the end of the second quarter.
