Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Stock-based Compensation Plans

v3.8.0.1
Stock-based Compensation Plans
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017
Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]  
Stock-based Compensation Plans
Stock-based Compensation Plans
The Corporation administers a number of equity compensation plans, with awards being granted predominantly from the Bank of America Key Employee Equity Plan (KEEP). Under this plan, 450 million shares of the Corporation’s common stock are authorized to be used for grants of awards.
During 2017 and 2016, the Corporation granted 85 million and 163 million RSU awards to certain employees under the KEEP. Generally, one-third of the RSUs vest on each of the first three anniversaries of the grant date provided that the employee remains continuously employed with the Corporation during that time. The RSUs are authorized to settle predominantly in shares of common stock of the Corporation, and are expensed ratably over the vesting period, net of estimated forfeitures, for non-retirement eligible employees based on the grant-date fair value of the shares. Certain RSUs will be settled in cash or contain settlement provisions that subject these awards to variable accounting whereby compensation expense is adjusted to fair value based on changes in the share price of the Corporation’s common stock up to the settlement date. Awards granted in years prior to 2016 were predominantly cash settled.
Effective October 1, 2017, the Corporation changed its accounting method for determining when stock-based compensation awards granted to retirement-eligible employees are deemed authorized, changing from the grant date to the beginning of the year preceding the grant date when the incentive award plans are generally approved. As a result, the estimated value of the awards is now expensed ratably over the year preceding the grant date. The compensation cost for all prior periods presented herein has been restated. For more information, see Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Principles.
The compensation cost for the stock-based plans was $2.2 billion, $2.2 billion and $2.1 billion in 2017, 2016 and 2015 and the related income tax benefit was $829 million, $835 million and $792 million for 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.
Restricted Stock/Units
The table below presents the status at December 31, 2017 of the share-settled restricted stock/units and changes during 2017.
 
 
 
 
Stock-settled Restricted Stock/Units
 
 
 
 
 
Shares/Units
 
Weighted-
average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding at January 1, 2017
156,492,946

 
$
11.99

Granted
81,555,447

 
24.58

Vested
(52,187,746
)
 
12.01

Canceled
(6,587,404
)
 
16.93

Outstanding at December 31, 2017
179,273,243

 
17.53

The table below presents the status at December 31, 2017 of the cash-settled RSUs granted under the KEEP and changes during 2017.
 
 
Cash-settled Restricted Units
 
 
 
 
Units
Outstanding at January 1, 2017
121,235,489

Granted
3,105,988

Vested
(79,525,864
)
Canceled
(2,605,987
)
Outstanding at December 31, 2017
42,209,626


At December 31, 2017, there was an estimated $1.1 billion of total unrecognized compensation cost related to certain share-based compensation awards that is expected to be recognized over a period of up to four years, with a weighted-average period of 1.7 years. The total fair value of restricted stock vested in 2017, 2016 and 2015 was $1.3 billion, $358 million and $145 million, respectively. In 2017, 2016 and 2015, the amount of cash paid to settle equity-based awards for all equity compensation plans was $1.9 billion, $1.7 billion and $3.0 billion, respectively.
Stock Options
The table below presents the status of all option plans at December 31, 2017 and changes during 2017.
 
 
 
 
Stock Options
 
 
 
 
 
Options
 
Weighted-
average
Exercise Price
Outstanding at January 1, 2017
42,357,282

 
$
50.57

Forfeited
(25,769,108
)
 
55.15

Outstanding at December 31, 2017
16,588,174

 
43.44


All options outstanding as of December 31, 2017 were vested and exercisable with a weighted-average remaining contractual term of less than one year and have no aggregate intrinsic value. No options have been granted since 2008.