B of A is comfortable with gaming lending

Bank of America employees saw another side of their new boss when he visited Las Vegas this week.

B of A Chairman and Chief Executive Hugh McColl made his first meet-and-greet mission to Nevada on Tuesday.

McColl got an earful in California for moving the bank's headquarters out of San Francisco, engineering the ouster of former B of A Chief Executive Dave Coulter and standing by while several high-ranking female executives left the company after the merger. His California critics included government officials, activists and the media.

The Nevada visit gave him an opportunity to tell his side of the story.

The public perception: B of A moved out of San Francisco and turned merger partner NationsBank's headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., into the center of the financial giant's operations. The McColl perception: B of A is decentralizing its operations and some of those leaving San Francisco will administer their offices from different locations in the bank's nationwide network.

The public perception: Women executives began leaving the company after McColl arrived last year. The McColl perception: Executives -- men and women -- left the company to take lucrative "golden parachute" packages. Many of the women who left the company were replaced by women.

Telling his side of the story occupied very little of McColl's six-hour tour of Las Vegas, which included no scheduled meetings with reporters or customers. B of A Nevada President George Smith said most of McColl's time was spent meeting associates, taking feedback and offering a sneak preview of the bank's summer transition to a new management information system.

"It was an excellent first meeting," Smith said. "He was very upbeat about Nevada's bank operations and our market growth. It was a part of his tour through the western states. He has a desire to go out and kick the tires in all the states where we have banks."

Bank of America is Nevada's largest bank with deposits of $4.367 billion.

Smith said McColl met with about 15 upper management associates for breakfast, then answered questions for about 125 employees in another session. He also toured the bank's auto dealer lending center in Summerlin and some bank branches.

Smith said McColl fielded several questions about the new computer platform that will be brought on line after it's installed in B of A's Texas and New Mexico properties.

The system will consolidate information about customer accounts and simplify employees' access to it. Smith said details on the new system would be released later this year.

At the same time the bank makes its computer platform modifications it'll make its more visible logo change. The new red and blue design will begin appearing on signs, stationary and business cards in the summer, McColl told employees.

Smith said McColl also was quizzed on the new B of A's strategy on loans to casino companies.

"I talked to him about gaming every time we got in the car to go to the next meeting," Smith said. "Finally, I asked him, 'What do you think?' And he said, 'You know what, I'm fine with what we're doing.' He said NationsBank had no one who understands the gaming industry and we have a cadre of people who do.

"So, he's very comfortable with the people who are handling it now," he said. "It's part of the whole decentralization and local autonomy plan. The Bank of America is the biggest gaming lender. In the South, we're also the biggest cotton lender. In Texas, we're the biggest oil lender. I think he knows that in Nevada, that's (gaming) what we do."

Last year, B of A had $2.3 billion in gaming lending commitments, which it says was by far the largest in that category in the nation. The bank said it was the lead lender in 11 joint deals worth $5.8 billion of the $6.5 billion in gaming loans nationwide.

McColl also discussed B of A's international exposure in the wake of economic trouble in Asia and South America. He said the bank's philosophy will be to support major multinational companies based in the United States as opposed to cultivating business overseas.

Smith said McColl also discussed a training program for senior management to get banks prepared for Year 2000 computer problems.

While McColl's general assessment of Nevada was favorable, he admitted that California has caused its share of headaches.

"He said he thought his California visit (in mid-January) went well," Smith said. "But he also said it was more difficult in California. I'm not having to lay off four floors of 20-year employees (in Nevada) or asking them to move all over the country."

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