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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Merrill Lynch

Merrill Lynch stories: 155 news summaries

1 - 20 of 155 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 8 Next >>

Bank of America Loses
$2.2B as Loans Sour

Investment revenues up, but consumers default on nearly $10B

(AP) - Bank of America Corp. lost more $2.24 billion in the third quarter, the company announced today, as loan losses kept rising. Those losses amounted to nearly $10 billion, providing further evidence that consumers are still struggling to pay their bills. The bank also added $2.1 billion to its... More »

 Congress, BofA 
 Clash Over Merrill Secrets 

Bank insists merger talk protected, Towns issues spill deadline

(Newser) - Bank of America claims it doesn't have to produce details about its decision to merge with Merrill Lynch because the conversations are protected by attorney-client privilege. But the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee begs to differ, reports the New York Times. The showdown peaked last week... More »

 Feds Probe 
 BofA-Merrill Deal 

FBI, Justice Department investigate timing of bonus payments: source

(Newser) - Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch is the focus of an ongoing investigation by the FBI and Justice Department, sources tell the Charlotte Observer, the bank's hometown paper. The SEC and the AGs of New York and North Carolina have already launched civil probes of the timing of huge... More »

Merrill's Thain Rues Picking Pricey Office Decor Over Ikea

Former Merrill Lynch CEO denies accelerating bonuses

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch's former CEO issued an apology of sorts for spending $1.2 million—including $35,000 for a commode—to redecorate his office as the firm bottomed out, Bloomberg reports. “We decorated it in the style that Merrill Lynch offices were, which was very, very nice,” John... More »

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Bank of America merger Merrill Lynch Ikea bonuses John Thain furniture financial crisis Ken Lewis

GLOSSIES

8 Days That Shook the Financial World

James Stewart on the week that Lehman failed, and meltdown loomed

(Newser) - James Stewart’s reconstruction of the 8 nail-biting days, a year ago, in which the federal government stepped in to stop the collapse of the world financial system—published in the New Yorker this week, just as Fed chief Ben Bernanke was declaring the recession officially over—makes riveting, tense... More »

 Cuomo Hits 5 BofA Directors 
 With Subpoenas 

Bank's board may have hid Merrill losses from shareholders

(Newser) - Andrew Cuomo subpoenaed five members of Bank of America’s board of directors today in his probe to uncover whether the bank was truthful to shareholders about losses at Merrill Lynch, the Wall Street Journal reports. The New York Attorney General suspects that the board was fully informed of the... More »

Court Overturns Merrill-BofA Settlement With SEC

Bank's $33M fine doesn't do 'justice' to shareholders, public: judge

(Newser) - A federal judge today scrapped the $33 million settlement Bank of America and the SEC agreed on as punishment for the bank's not informing shareholders of bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch executives just before the bank bought Merrill, the New York Times reports. Saying BofA "materially lied, " Jed... More »

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Bank of America Merrill Lynch SEC bonuses settlement hearings regulator Securities and Exchange Commission Jed Rakoff

(Newser) - The judge who has refused to sign off on Bank of America's settlement with the SEC over $3.6 billion in bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch delivered a stinging rebuke to both parties in a hearing yesterday, the New York Times reports. The firms "effectively lied to their shareholders"... More »

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executive compensation Bank of America federal courts Merrill Lynch SEC bonuses John Thain executive bonuses Jed Rakoff

Judge Balks at BofA Bonus Settlement

$33M deal with SEC raises questions of fairness; hearing set

(Newser) - Bank of America won't be able to quietly settle the flap over bonuses for Merrill Lynch execs with a simple $33 million payout to the SEC, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Judge Jed Rakoff refused to sign off on the settlement, saying that doing so would leave the public in... More »

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Bank of America federal courts Merrill Lynch SEC bonuses federal judges Wall Street bailout TARP executive bonuses Jed Rakoff

BofA Settles SEC Suit Over Merrill Bonuses for $33M

Commission says bank misled investors over Merrill payout

(Newser) - Bank of America will pay $33 million to settle a federal lawsuit, filed today, which says the bank misled its investors, Reuters reports. During its takeover of Merrill Lynch, the lawsuit charges, Bank of America told investors Merrill wouldn’t pay bonuses without BoA’s permission before the deal closed.... More »

TARP-Funded Banks Kept Awarding Bonuses

Firms paid more than they made: Cuomo

(Newser) - The financial crisis and government bailouts did little to change Wall Street’s executive compensation habits, New York's attorney general says. All nine banks given assistance by TARP paid out bonuses in 2008—well before any paid back government loans, according to a survey ordered by Andrew Cuomo. Goldman Sachs,... More »

Paulson: BofA-Merrill Deal Saved US From 'Great Peril'

Actions saved nation from 'great peril,' he says

(Newser) - Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says his role in Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch was appropriate and necessary, MarketWatch reports. “I am confident that our responses were substantially correct and that they saved this nation from great peril,” Paulson told a House oversight committee today... More »

MARKETS

 Stocks Tread Water; Dow Up 5 

Goldman Sachs rises, Pfizer falls

(Newser) - The stock market indices swung back and forth across a narrow range today as financials enjoyed advances but the health care sector declined, the Wall Street Journal reports. Goldman Sachs was up 3.69% after Bank of American Merrill Lynch upgraded Goldman shares from “neutral” to “buy.”... More »

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health care Bank of America Goldman Sachs Dow Jones Pfizer Merrill Lynch Nasdaq financial sector S&P 500

 Female Brokers Sue 
 BofA for Discrimination 

Men got higher retention bonuses, they allege

(Newser) - A former Merrill Lynch broker is leading a class-action lawsuit against Bank of America for offering female workers lower retention bonuses, Reuters reports. The suit alleges that Merrill had a longtime practice of steering wealthier clients to its male brokers. Because of that, when BofA acquired the firm and offered... More »

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Bank of America Merrill Lynch class action gender discrimination civil lawsuits Jaime Goodman

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson may have leaned on Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis too heavily last year when he tried to back out of a deal to acquire Merrill Lynch, say congressional investigators. In fact, a GOP briefing document says the two Bush officals "put a gun... More »

Thain Accuses BofA of Lying About Bonuses

Fired Merill CEO tries to 'set the record straight' about $3.6B payout

(Newser) - In his first lengthy interview since being pushed out as CEO of Merrill Lynch, John Thain tells the Wall Street Journal that Bank of America—which acquired Merrill in September—is lying about its involvement in the $3.6 billion in bonus payouts that made Thain the poster boy for... More »

Paulson Threatened
to Oust Lewis, BofA Board

Cuomo wants
federal investigation

(Newser) - Bank of America wanted to pull out of its deal with a fast-sinking Merrill Lynch last year but changed course after then-Treasury chief Henry Paulson threatened to oust CEO Ken Lewis and the entire BofA board, the Wall Street Journal reports. The revelation came in a letter to members of... More »

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Bank of America Henry Paulson Merrill Lynch Andrew Cuomo banking industry Ken Lewis

BofA CEO Says Feds Urged Silence on
Merrill Losses

Shareholders kept in the dark to ensure deal

(Newser) - Bank of America's CEO felt pressured by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury chief Henry Paulson to withhold details of last year's Merrill Lynch acquisition from shareholders, including mounting losses at Merrill that triggered a $20 billion bailout, the Wall Street Journal reports. BofA CEO Ken Lewis said in testimony... More »

Bankers Leave Street in Rear View; Head for Academia 

Execs take teaching jobs amid crisis

(Newser) - With the financial tornado buffeting Wall Street, some of its leading figures are ditching their careers for work in academia, Time reports. Merrill Lynch’s former president is teaching at Yale; Citigroup’s former merger boss headed to Berkeley; a onetime Goldman Sachs exec is now at Harvard. “It’... More »

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SEC Probes BofA for Being Mum on Merrill Bonuses

Bank may have illegally misled investors over pre-takeover Merrill payouts

(Newser) - The SEC is looking into whether Bank of America violated federal law by failing to let investors know Merrill Lynch planned to pay its execs $3.62 billion in bonuses before it was taken over by BofA last year, the Financial Times reports. The regulator is reviewing the bank's disclosure... More »

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executive compensation Bank of America Dennis Kucinich Merrill Lynch SEC bonuses bailout executive bonuses

1 - 20 of 155 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 8 Next >>