| 3:01 a.m., Apr. 14, 2008 |
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BOA to 'paint the town red' with LaSalle name change
By Tom Henderson
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In internal memos, LaSalle Bank and Bank of America executives refer to May 5 as Customer Day One.
That's the day most of the 256 LaSalle Bank branches in Michigan change their names to Bank of America.
Originally, Bank of America Corp., which closed on the $21 billion purchase of Troy-based LaSalle Bank Midwest N.A. and LaSalle Bank N.A. of Chicago from Netherlands-based ABN Amro on Oct. 1, planned to phase in new signs and logos throughout the year.
Now the plan is to do as many as possible in one day, and have all of them switched in a few days.
“We'll be painting the town red,” said Rob Darmanin, media-relations manager of Michigan operations, referring to the BOA red that will replace the green of LaSalle. Some branches will have ribbon-cutting ceremonies.
When BOA bought LaSalle, officials said they would cut about 1,500 of the 4,000 jobs in Michigan over two years, but they didn't anticipate many branch closings.
Darmanin said the bank has decided it will close just two branches, at undisclosed locations, in the fourth quarter. Employees will be transferred to other branches.
As of June 30, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., LaSalle was No. 1 statewide in deposit market share, with $23.3 billion and 15.1 percent, just beating out Comerica Bank.
Darmanin said the company is on track to hit its downsizing target but wouldn't say how many jobs have been eliminated. Layoffs are believed to have occurred at headquarters and at some back-office operations, including in Troy and Lansing.
A different name change will affect the 50 bankers in LaSalle's private wealth management unit. Beginning May 5, that group will operate as U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management.
North Carolina-based Bank of America announced in July that it had acquired U.S. Trust Corp. Combined with BOA's wealth management group, it has about $230 billion under management nation- wide and about $3 billion in Michigan, said John Irwin, city executive in charge of private wealth management in Michigan.
Irwin said his group targets individuals or families with at least $3 million of liquid assets, or business owners with a net worth of more than $5 million.
Irwin said the bank plans a big marketing campaign touting the name change to U.S. Trust in the weeks leading up to May 5.
“There are a range of services we can offer now that LaSalle couldn't have afforded,” said Irwin. Examples are yacht financing, specialty investments in timber and gas, and philanthropic services.
“This enables us to go after the ultra-high-net-worth individual,” he said. “This moves up our sweet spot from a net worth of $5 million to $10 million for a typical client to a net worth of $25 million.”
Tom Henderson: (313) 446-0337, thenderson@crain.com
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