Bank of America Merrill Lynch Releases 2013 Corporate Social Responsibility Report and Encourages Business Leaders in Asia Pacific to Contribute to Local Communities

Employee-led selection and volunteering programs make a local difference: $3.275m for 58 Organizations in 13 Asia Pacific Markets in 2012

HONG KONG, July 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch today released its second annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, for the first time outlining details of its Asia Pacific community and environment programs. The report( http://www.bankofamerica.com/csrreport ) details how projects are contributing to local communities where the company operates across the region.

One reason for launching the report in Asia Pacific, according to Matthew Koder, Asia Pacific President, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, is to inspire others to drive their own CSR efforts. "We want to spend more time thinking about those we serve, including clients, communities and shareholders. We partner, contribute and invest in local communities through these initiatives and hope our actions will encourage others to do the same."

In Asia Pacific, Bank of America Merrill Lynch employees chose 58 organizations operating in 13 Asia Pacific markets, for total donations of US$3.275 million in 2012. Staff formed nine local philanthropy committees to research local social and economic needs and decide on funding priorities. They also ran volunteer programs in 11 markets, where employees rolled up their sleeves in an effort that included building homes in six countries, monthly reading club participation for children in Hong Kong, supporting disadvantaged youths in Japan, mentoring children through the Akanksha foundation on a weekly basis in Mumbai for the eighth year running, volunteering at the Noah Rehabilitation Center in South Korea and supporting post-earthquake recovery efforts in Japan's Tohoku region.

Beneficiaries included:

Youth:

-- Friends-International (Thailand), a vocational training and mentorship program for young girls living in slum conditions at high risk of entering the sex trade

-- Stewart House (Australia), funding of a respite care program for youth from the Australian outback with special needs around ill health, emotional distress, family problems, social neglect or isolation

-- Sun Duk Won Orphanage (South Korea), an orphanage for girls; establishment of a child community development program

Poverty/Wellbeing:

-- Yayasan Good News (Indonesia), a community development initiative covering healthcare, education, hygiene and training to create sellable items from recyclable goods, in a community that lives on a garbage dump site

-- Habitat for Humanity, a partnership across 6 Asian markets (mainland China/ Hong Kong, South Korea, Philippines, Thailand, India, Indonesia) to provide homes for underserved communities

-- Women's Net Saya Saya (Japan), a program called "SUN" to provide greater financial independence and support for more than 100 abused women through workshops and mentoring

Education:

-- Teach for China/Teach for India (China and India), improving education for young professionals and graduates in rural or poor communities, through financial literacy programs

-- Aflatoun Financial Literacy Program (Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines), a financial literacy curriculum for local teachers and mentors

-- BN Vocational School (China), the first private vocational school that is completely free of charge for disadvantaged youth, targeting rural and migrant youth; we sponsored the e-commerce class of 2012

-- Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation (Hong Kong), providing arts education for children living in residential homes who otherwise would not have access to creative education

Environmental stewardship

In 2012, we continued to focus on environmental improvement both in our Asia Pacific operations and in our business. This included initiatives such as:

-- Hosting the inaugural Asia Business Leaders Forum, aimed at bringing renewable energy to scale in China

-- Asia Pacific Innovation Speaker Series, designed to foster understanding of the relationship between sustainability and innovation

-- Partnerships including sponsorship of the Nature Conservancy's land conservation efforts in China and Indonesia, water.org's efforts to improve access to water in India, and the Ocean Conservancy's global commitment to clean our oceans( http://flagscape.bankofamerica.com/portal/site/flagscape/menuitem.f992fed6b539038f211649ede3cc5cba/?vgnextoid=717a0232c660a310VgnVCM10000036ccc5abRCRD&vgnextchannel=8dd7ab9a01655210VgnVCM2000003cccc5abRCRD )

-- In 2012, we assigned a grant to Barefoot College which will enable villages in South East Asia to receive solar power by training women from some of the poorest communities to become solar engineers.

Arts & Culture

Our support for arts and culture comes through a unique range of exhibition loaning programs, charitable grants and sponsorships. In Asia Pacific in 2012, we:

-- Supported the Beijing Music Festival in China for the second consecutive year

-- Sponsored the Ruhaniyat Festival in India for the third consecutive year

-- Continued to act as Global Sponsor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing across Asia in 2013

-- Loaned exhibition 'Transcending Vision: American Impressionism 1870-1940' to Seoul Arts Centre in Korea

-- Launched our Art Conservation Program in Beijing, Shanghai, Mumbai, Sydney and Tokyo

The Art Conservation Program is a global program that helps restore works of art that hold important national heritage value. Six project recipients were selected across five Asia Pacific markets in 2012, from the Qianlong Great Buddhist Cannon in Beijing to the Five Dragons & Hinoki-Zu in Tokyo. Grant recipients included Shanghai Museum, Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney), Beijing Capital Museum, CSMVS Museum (Mumbai). The 2013 grant recipients of this program are being announced this week. For further details, visit http://museums.bankofamerica.com/arts/Conservation

For further details, including the full report and supporting material, visit www.bankofamerica.com/csrreport.

For more Bank of America news, visit the Bank of America newsroom( http://mediaroom.bankofamerica.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=234503&p=irol-overview ).

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SOURCE Bank of America Merrill Lynch