American multinational financial services company Bank of America (BofA) has announced the Critical Infrastructure Finance Initiative that will mobilize and deploy US$ 250 billion over 18 months to support infrastructure development and modernization in the US.
The initiative comes as demand for compute power, energy, manufacturing capacity, modern transport and diverse supply chains surges in the US. Specifically, BofA said in a press release that the programme will invest in digital infrastructure including data centers, computing infrastructure, telecommunications and semiconductors. Energy and power infrastructure, as well as core infrastructure, are also part of the bank’s initiative.
“We are proud of our long history supporting the American economy. As America marks its 250th year, this initiative reflects our confidence in the country’s future and the investments that will shape it,” said Jim DeMare, Co-President, Bank of America. “The infrastructure that powers our economy, strengthens our energy security and secures our technological leadership will drive growth, create jobs and define America’s next chapter.”
The initiative will be led by BofA’s Global Capital Solutions and Global Infrastructure and Sustainable Finance teams and forms part of its US$ 1.5 trillion 10 year sustainable finance goal. The success of the programme will be measured against eligible activity in primary market lending, investing, capital markets and advisory transactions between January 1, 2026 and July 4, 2027. The bank’s involvement will span financing, investment, advisory and supply chain solutions.
“Delivering these projects requires integrated financing solutions spanning corporate and project-level capital in both public and private markets. By bringing together capital providers, developers, corporations and investors, we are focused on helping accelerate investment in infrastructure that drives economic growth and creates lasting value for communities,” said Karen Fang, Global Head of Infrastructure & Sustainable Finance and Co-Head of Global Capital Solutions at Bank of America.
The bank is already a familiar face in the data center sector. Readers may recall that BofA acted as the structuring agent on the financing for The Barn, a US$ 16 billion Oracle data center campus in Michigan announced in April. The bank also acted as a lead underwriter of CSquare’s recent IPO listing on the New York Stock Exchange. BofA told BloombergNEF last week that it had enabled the construction of over 5 GW of data center projects globally over the last 18 months. Fang noted that, “Investor demand for high-quality digital and energy infrastructure projects remains strong.”
The announcement comes as financial institutions look to capitalize on the rising demand for AI data centers. However, BofA recently tightened its lending standards for data center projects. The firm will reportedly put more weight on community opposition, permitting disputes, and environmental concerns when deciding whether to finance data center projects, according to Yahoo Finance. While the Critical Infrastructure Finance Initiative spans more than just data centers, how BofA handles contested data center projects will be closely watched.