The Bank of America Corporation (simply referred to as Bank of America, often abbreviated as BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered 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 eighth largest bank in the world. Bank of America is one of the Big Four banking institutions of the United States.