B of A Options Plan Likely to Be Announced

BankAmerica Corp. is expected today to announce plans to reward 85,000 employees worldwide with stock options. Analysts said they expect Chairman David Coulter to unveil the plan during a scheduled video news conference to be beamed worldwide to the bank’s employees gathered in 26 locations. “This is a positive announcement that will benefit our employees around the world,” bank spokesman John Keane said, declining to elaborate. San Francisco-based BankAmerica, the third-largest bank company in the U.S., is following a trend by offering employees options to buy the company’s stock at below-market prices, analysts said. In the last year, Citicorp and Chase Manhattan Corp. established plans that gave employees a personal stake in the performance of those companies. The options plan is not expected to affect BankAmerica’s stock price, which rose 75 cents to close at $96 on the NYSE.