The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank was founded in San Francisco and took its present form when NationsBank of Charlotte acquired it in 1998. It is the second-largest banking institution in the United States, after JPMorgan Chase, and the second largest bank in the world by market capitalization. Bank of America is one of the Big Four banking institutions of the United States. It serves approximately 10.73% of all American bank deposits, in direct competition with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo. Its primary financial services revolve around commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking. One branch of its history stretches back to the U.S.-based Bank of Italy, founded by Amadeo Pietro Giannini in 1904, which provided various banking options to Italian immigrants who faced service discrimination. Originally headquartered in San Francisco, California, Giannini acquired Banca d'America e d'Italia (Bank of America and Italy) in 1922. The passage of landmark federal banking legislation facilitated a rapid growth in the 1950s, quickly establishing a prominent market share. After suffering a significant loss after the 1998 Russian bond default, BankAmerica, as it was then known, was acquired by the Charlotte-based NationsBank for US$62 billion. Following what was then the largest bank acquisition in history, the Bank of America Corporation was founded. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, it built upon its commercial banking business by establishing Merrill Lynch for wealth management and Bank of America Merrill Lynch for investment banking in 2008 and 2009, respectively (since renamed BofA Securities).Both Bank of America and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management retain large market shares in their respective offerings. The investment bank is considered within the "Bulge Bracket" as the third largest investment bank in the world, as of 2018. Its wealth management side manages US$1.081 trillion in assets under management (AUM) as the second largest wealth manager in the world, after UBS. In commercial banking, Bank of America operates—but does not necessarily maintain—retail branches in all 50 states of the United States, the District of Columbia and more than 40 other countries. Its commercial banking footprint encapsulates 46 million consumer and small business relationships at 4,600 banking centers and 15,900 automated teller machines (ATMs). The bank's large market share, business activities, and economic impact has led to numerous lawsuits and investigations regarding both mortgages and financial disclosures dating back to the 2008 financial crisis. Its corporate practices of servicing the middle class and wider banking community has yielded a substantial market share since the early 20th century. As of August 2018, Bank of America has a $313.5 billion market capitalization, making it the 13th largest company in the world. As the sixth largest American public company, it garnered $102.98 billion in sales as of June 2018. Bank of America was ranked #25 on the 2020 Fortune 500 rankings of the largest US corporations by total revenue. Likewise, Bank of America was also ranked #8 on the 2020 Global 2000 rankings done by Forbes. Bank of America was named the "World's Best Bank" by the Euromoney Institutional Investor in their 2018 Awards for Excellence.

Karnataka (; ISO: Karnāṭaka, Kannada pronunciation: [kɐˈɾnäːʈɐkɐ], also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as the State of Mysore , it was renamed Karnataka in 1973. The state corresponds to the Carnatic region. Its capital and largest city is Bangalore. Karnataka is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, Goa to the northwest, Maharashtra to the north, Telangana to the northeast, Andhra Pradesh to the east, Tamil Nadu to the southeast, and Kerala to the southwest. It is the only southern state to have land borders with all of the other four southern Indian sister states. The state covers an area of 191,791 square kilometres (74,051 sq mi), or 5.83 percent of the total geographical area of India. It is the sixth-largest Indian state by area. With 61,130,704 inhabitants at the 2011 census, Karnataka is the eighth-largest state by population, comprising 31 districts. Kannada, one of the classical languages of India, is the most widely spoken and official language of the state. Other minority languages spoken include Urdu, Konkani, Marathi, Tulu, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kodava and Beary. Karnataka also contains some of the only villages in India where Sanskrit is primarily spoken.Though several etymologies have been suggested for the name Karnataka, the generally accepted one is that Karnataka is derived from the Kannada words karu and nādu, meaning "elevated land". Karu Nadu may also be read as karu, meaning "black" and nadu, meaning "region", as a reference to the black cotton soil found in the Bayalu Seeme region of the state. The British used the word Carnatic, sometimes Karnatak, to describe both sides of peninsular India, south of the Krishna.With an antiquity that dates to the paleolithic, Karnataka has been home to some of the most powerful empires of ancient and medieval India. The philosophers and musical bards patronised by these empires launched socio-religious and literary movements which have endured to the present day. Karnataka has contributed significantly to both forms of Indian classical music, the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions. The economy of Karnataka is the sixth-largest of any Indian state with ₹16.65 trillion (US$210 billion) in gross domestic product and a per capita GDP of ₹226,000 (US$2,800). Karnataka has the nineteenth-highest ranking among Indian states in Human Development Index.

Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (Kannada pronunciation: [ˈbeŋgɐɭuːɾu] (listen)), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than 8 million and a metropolitan population of around 11 million, making it the third most populous city and fifth most populous urban agglomeration in India, as well as the largest city in South India, and the 27th largest city in the world. Located on the Deccan Plateau, at a height of over 900 m (3,000 ft) above sea level, Bangalore has a pleasant climate throughout the year. Its elevation is the highest among the major cities of India. Bangalore is widely regarded as the "Silicon Valley of India" because of its role as the nation's leading information technology (IT) exporter.The city's history dates back to around 890 CE, as found in a stone inscription found at the Nageshwara Temple in Begur, Bangalore. In 1537 CE, Kempé Gowdā – a feudal ruler under the Vijayanagara Empire – established a mud fort, considered the foundation of modern Bangalore and its oldest areas, or petes, which still exist. After the fall of the Vijayanagar empire, Kempe Gowda declared independence; in 1638, a large Adil Shahi Bijapur army defeated Kempe Gowda III, and Bangalore was given to them as a jagir (feudal estate).The Mughals later captured Bangalore and sold it to Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar (1673–1704), the then ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. When Haider Ali seized control of the Kingdom of Mysore, the administration of Bangalore passed into his hands. The city was captured by the British East India Company after victory in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799), who returned administrative control of the city to the Maharaja of Mysore. The old city developed under the dominions of the Maharaja of Mysore and was made capital of the Princely State of Mysore, which existed as a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj. In 1809, the British shifted their cantonment to Bangalore, outside the old city, and a town grew up around it, governed as part of British India. Following India's independence in 1947, Bangalore became the capital of Mysore State, and remained the capital when the new Indian state of Karnataka was formed in 1956. The two urban settlements of Bangalore – city and cantonment – which had developed as independent entities merged into a single urban centre in 1949. The existing Kannada name, Bengalūru, was declared the city's official name in 2006. Bangalore is the second fastest-growing major metropolis in India. Recent estimates of the metro economy of its urban area have ranked Bangalore either the fourth or fifth most productive metro area of India. It is home to many educational and research institutions. Numerous state-owned aerospace and defence organisations are located in the city. The city also houses the Kannada film industry and is a hub of sporting events.