In August, Liam McGee was promoted to president of Bank of America, California, a new position that consolidated under one person the operations of what is the state’s largest bank. It also effectively moved the California headquarters of Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America from San Francisco to Los Angeles, since McGee works here. In his new job, McGee is responsible for managing more than $185 billion in loans and deposits and a network that includes 960 branches and 5,000 ATMs.
A native of Ireland, McGee moved to Southern California with his family when he was 2. He joined the company in 1990 from the now-defunct Security Pacific Bank and in July 1998 was named president of Bank of America Southern California. He also serves on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
Question: What has your promotion meant for you and the bank now that you’ve had a couple of months to get settled?
Answer: Obviously, for me, I’m delighted. It’s a great job, it’s a great leadership opportunity. In terms of the company, I think it clearly recognizes the importance of (Los Angeles). The California bank is by far the most profitable business in Bank of America, so I think it recognizes the significance of that.
Q: You come from the Southern California contingent of the pre-buyout Bank of America. Does that reflect a decision by the Charlotte, N.C. leadership to grant local autonomy?
A: I think the real message is: This is a new company and it’s a company that understands that we have assembled clearly the great banking franchise in the world. I think it’s a reflection that this is a company that will make the best effort to choose who it thinks its best leaders are, without real reference to where they came from.
Q: What opportunities and challenges do you see for the Southern California economy and what role can the bank play?
A: I think Southern California is the new model. This is not an economy, despite its size, that is dominated by or even counts many large companies. We’re dominated by small to middle-sized businesses. They are incredibly ethnically diverse. It’s an economy that doesn’t have concentrations in industries and companies, and I think over the long term, that makes our economy far more resistant to downturns.
Within that context, there are some large companies, and ours would clearly be one of the more important ones. We do business with more consumers, by far, than anyone else. We do more business with businesses, by far, than anyone else. I think we have to play a very important role in that, but also to be a center of influence.
Q: But doesn’t the lack of large companies here makes it difficult to find leaders with whom the entire region can identify?
A: I think that is problematic in the short term, that we do have somewhat of a vacuum of leadership. The traditional model of 20 CEOs helping to raise money for the United Way, or coming together to make something happen, that’s very challenging here. Having said that, there are several people, and I include myself among them, that if there is something important, we can come together and make those things happen.
Q: Talk about your view on the need for small-business and minority lending, and what should be done beyond what the bank has done so far. (See related story on page 1.)
A: Well, in California, and particularly Southern California, the engine of growth is small business. And every new job created is in a small business, every net new job, to be accurate. So if you’re in the banking business, and you want to make loans, and you want to have people use your products and services, you better be tuned in to that and you better be prepared to serve that. Not only are small businesses the engine of growth here, but there is tremendous ethnic diversity. I think that creates great opportunities, but it also creates great learning opportunities for us. We have to get better. I think we’ve made a lot of progress on this, but we’re also realistic enough to know we have to keep making progress.
Q: Bank of America recently funded a $15 million loan to the inner-city Chesterfield Square project. Will we be seeing more of this kind of lending?
A: I don’t like the term “inner city,” because that’s insulting to the people who live in it. I think they are “emerging markets.” If you look at the purchasing power of the Latino community in Los Angeles County alone, it’s the largest Latino economy in the world. I think it’s $120 billion a year now and growing by $1 million a month. Now you tell me that smart businesses aren’t going to invest in an opportunity to serve that marketplace. Of course they are. Is it more challenging, and do people have to take risks perhaps that they don’t understand initially? Yeah, but they’ll learn.
Q: The bank has pledged to spend $350 billion nationwide and at least $70 billion in California on community reinvestment over a 10-year period. Community advocates like the Greenlining Institute have called for you to be more specific in detailing how you’re going to reach those targets. How is the program going?
A: We’re well ahead of schedule. Look at our one-year report card. I think that the relationship between the banking business and organizations like that is very constructive, although I think sometimes it is characterized as not being that way. We each have a role to play, and that’s OK. They have a responsibility to their constituency and we have a responsibility to our shareholders and our communities, and there’s a healthy tension there. I think that’s fine. I think not enough people in my business have said that. We will exceed our plans, we have exceeded them. It’s not just because someone told us we had to do it. I think it’s an opportunity and a responsibility, and I think the relationships we have with organizations like that are a very important part of that.
Q: How is it that you speak Spanish?
A: When I graduated from the University of San Diego, I had visited Mexico a lot. And when I got out, I lived in Mexico for about six months teaching. I always try to speak Spanish where I can. I really have a great love of the culture and for the language. Most people who speak Spanish fluently tell me I speak it pretty well, and with not much of an accent.
Q: Do you think that kind of cultural exposure helps you in your outlook?
A: I think, for myself, two things have contributed to it. First of all, I’m an immigrant. And there’s no substituting that mindset. Secondly is the fact that I have lived somewhere else, and I do love other cultures. And so I think, if anything, because of my own experiences and background, I just appreciate it.
Q: The revival of downtown Los Angeles seems to be gathering steam. Do you think a city like L.A. really needs a vital urban core?
A: Great cities need to have a downtown. I think that is happening in Los Angeles. Staples Center was a very important development, because it’s a destination point, it’s recognized, it’s world-class and it has the diversity of events that bring different kinds of people. I also believe the cathedral will be vitally important. I think the cathedral transcends religion. I think it will be vitally important, as will be the convergence of the Music Center with Disney Concert Hall. What is slowly beginning to happen, and is really the last piece, is downtown living. I don’t think we will fulfill our destiny as the 21st century city and I really believe we are the 21st century city until you do have an urban core. I think for people to view downtown as the same as a downtown San Francisco or Manhattan is to miss the point. That will never happen here. We will always have many downtowns from a business sense. Not from a cultural sense. I think that’s where downtown is going to fulfill its destiny, as a cultural center.
