April 30, 2001

Bank of America Shareholder Meeting

Bruce Marks, the Boston activist whose group is known for harassing banks that don't make loans in poor neighborhoods, made a special guest appearance at Bank of America's annual shareholder meeting last week.

Usually, Marks' presence at such a gathering wouldn't bode well for a bank CEO. But Marks was in town to praise McColl for making community development lending such a prominent part of the bank's business. Marks' Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America disburses no-closing-costs mortgages to poor and working-class people with Bank of America's help.

The glowing speech Marks gave before shareholders was a far cry from the exchange he and McColl had when they first met in the mid-1990s. Marks told McColl back then that all bankers are evil and care only about boosting profits.

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