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_yeah's picture

Come to think of it, what happens to ML's huge UK tax credit post BofA?

This briefly came to mind when the merger was announced, but the curiosity has gotten the better of me, so I'm hoping the experts here can shed some light on this.

If some of you recall, FT (amongst others) ran an article in mid-August describing how Merill booked their credit derivative losses ($29B or so worth) though their UK subsidiary, where net losses can be carried forward to future years as a tax credit. (article here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/369b723e-6a52-11dd-83e8-0000779fd18c.html)

After the merger, what becomes of this credit? (arguments against the validity of this accounting trick aside)

I'm assuming this will depend in part on the way the UK entity now fits inside the global corporate structure, something which I admittedly know next to nothing about right now.

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Philosopher's picture

that's an interesting tidbit

that's an interesting tidbit I didn't know. I assume BoA will of course keep the ML UK subsidiary as is to take advantage of that.

arcanne's picture

Gets carried over in the

Gets carried over in the stock deal.