HispanicBusiness

LOS ANGELES, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America has announced that Leticia Aguilar, consumer executive for the Greater Los Angeles Division and president, Bank of America Central Los Angeles market, will become the consumer executive for the Greater Los Angeles and Central California Division. Aguilar also was named to the Management Operating Committee, a group consisting of the company's top 100 executives who provide oversight to the bank.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040406/CLTU055 )

The new division -- the largest within the bank with $40 billion in deposits -- is an expanded geographic area that combines the Greater Los Angeles Division, including Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties with banking centers in the California Central Valley up through Modesto. Based on deposits in the division's 352 banking centers, Aguilar's division would rank separately as the 17th largest bank in the U.S., making her the highest- ranking Hispanic retail banking executive in the country.

"This appointment underscores Leticia's success in creating an environment where associates continually reach for higher standards of financial service and teamwork," said Liam McGee, president of Bank of America Consumer Banking nationally. Aguilar will report to McGee.

Aguilar also will continue in her role as the president and chief executive of Bank of America in Central Los Angeles where she is responsible for coordinating delivery of the bank's varied consumer and business-related services, as well as providing civic leadership and guiding decisions on local charitable giving, sponsorships and marketing.

Aguilar joined the bank in 1972 as a customer service representative, and held a number of customer service, sales and operations positions in Los Angeles County. In 1993, she was named consumer region executive for Special Markets -- South Region, responsible for the bank's Asian American strategy.

In October 1998, she was appointed consumer executive for the Southern California In-Store division where she oversaw more than 200 banking centers located in grocery stores throughout the Southland.

A native of Guadalajara, Mexico, Aguilar studied finance at the University of La Verne (Calif.), and attended the University of Virginia Graduate School of Retail Banking. She is a member of the Los Angeles Urban League, the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles and the Thomas Rivera Institute.

In 1999, Aguilar was recognized for her exemplary involvement with the Hispanic community, and was awarded the "El Faro" (The Lighthouse) award by the Pepperdine University Hispanic Council. Additionally, in 2001 the Academy of Business Leadership recognized her as corporate Woman of the Year.

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving 33 million consumer relationships with 5,700 retail banking offices, 16,500 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than 7 million active users. The SBA rates Bank of America the No. 1 Small Business Administration Lender in the United States. The company serves clients in 150 countries and has relationships with 96 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 82 percent of the Global Fortune 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

http://www.bankofamerica.com/ Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040406/CLTU055AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Bank of America

CONTACT: Ken Preston of Bank of America, +1-213-228-2558, orKen.preston@bankofamerica.com

Web site: http://www.bankofamerica.com/