Brian Moynihan

"He hasn't missed any of our diversity and inclusion councils in 10 years. It starts with him and trickles down," said Sheri Bronstein, the bank's global human resources executive.

Bank of America is showing more interest in commercial real estate lending while other lenders are pulling back, executives said. But they also said that they learned their lesson from the financial crisis and will proceed cautiously.

The bank said it has received subpoenas related to low-income housing tax credits; write-offs of bad credit card debt creep up.

The Bank Policy Institute was formed following the merger of The Clearing House Association and the Financial Services Roundtable.

The firms were initially slated to be included in a newly merged trade association, but they were blocked after some executives objected to adding more Wall Street banks.

Shahira Knight, the deputy director of the National Economic Council, is leaving the White House to join The Clearing House Association as its head of public affairs.

Today's senior leaders seem more willing than their predecessors to take bold stands on controversial topics, in part because employees and investors expect them to.

Bank of America's new policy denying loans and other services to certain gun makers came after dozens of employees lost family members or suffered other trauma related to mass shootings in the past few years, CEO Brian Moynihan said.

Lending, especially in some consumer segments, increased at Bank of America in the first quarter, and CEO Brian Moynihan expects that to continue this year. However, for market watchers skeptical about the industry's growth prospects, BofA's numbers may do little to change their minds.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., questioned Bank of America's decision to discontinue free online checking accounts used by many low-income consumers in light of the bank's recent profits and corporate tax cuts.