B of A chief to visit LV

Friday, Jan. 29, 1999 | 12:11 p.m.

Bank of America's chairman and chief executive officer will visit Las Vegas next week, but he's not expected to make any public appearances.

Hugh McColl, who took over the top post for the company when Charlotte, N.C.-based NationsBank acquired B of A and took over its name, will meet with top-level bank managers in the one-day visit on Tuesday.

The meeting with associates is part of McColl's previously announced plan to see employees in banks in the 22 states in which B of A operates. McColl plans to meet associates in Arizona on Monday.

McColl is expected to meet with senior management at a breakfast, answer questions in a session with about 150 associates, then visit the dealer lending center in Summerlin and some bank branches during his visit. He isn't scheduled to meet with customers and turned down a request for an interview from the Las Vegas Sun.

A spokesman said McColl plans to return at a future date to meet with customers and media.

Bank of America is Nevada's largest bank with deposits of $4.367 billion. The 63-year-old McColl has received a mixed response from the public in California, the bank's largest market. In Los Angeles, where he spoke this month at Town Hall Los Angeles, a public forum, he was received warmly in an appearance in which he promised $2.5 million to fund literacy programs in Southern California.

In San Francisco, the former headquarters of the bank, there have been more critics. Earlier this month, McColl and the bank were criticized by Mayor Willie Brown and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for not specifying what lending pledges would be made as California financial institutions have done in the past. Brown and some supervisors were happier when McColl promised to step up the flow of loans and donations. McColl also visited California government leaders in Sacramento.

In Nevada, there has been little reaction to the bank merger.

"You're seeing a lot of that tension in San Francisco because Bank of America has had its headquarters there since the turn of the century," said Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., who sits on the Senate committee that oversees the banking industry.

"In general, these megamergers are of concern to me because the decision-making process goes farther and farther from Las Vegas," Bryan said. "When the Bank of America acquired Valley Bank, there was concern because people knew (former Valley Bank executives) Parry Thomas and Dick Etter. The NationsBank acquisition puts the process one more step up the road."

Bryan said he has met with McColl and has received assurances that the new bank administration would continue to meet needs in Nevada in lending and community support.

"Clearly, they make the argument that their people (in Nevada) are going to have autonomy," Bryan said. "That's what they all say, 'Their people will have the authority.' Banks that operate at the local level have always had an interest in the community and support of community events. From the standpoint of business people, the local bank is important when there's a credit crunch."

In Nevada, there have been few complaints regarding B of A since the merger.

Gail Burks, a representative of the Southern Nevada Reinvestment and Accountable Banking Committee, said she hasn't heard of any complaints related specifically to the merger -- but it may be too early to know if any are coming.

"In terms of community programs, we're still waiting to see who all the players are," Burks said. "But (local B of A chief) George Smith is in charge locally and has been good to work with."

Jack DeBusk, consumer compliance officer for the Financial Institutions Division of the Nevada Business and Industry Administration, said because B of A is federally chartered, he refers any consumer complaints to the comptroller of the currency.

However, DeBusk logs consumer complaints about the bank and said he hasn't received any related specifically to the NationsBank merger.

The comptroller's office has jurisdiction over B of A, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank in Nevada.