Merrill

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2008/11/21/citigroup-you-cant-step-into-the-s...
Citigroup: You Can’t Step Into the Same Crisis Twice, Right?
Posted by Heidi N. Moore

Citigroup is under attack. The stock is being battered, and the company is blaming the shorts. As market commentators worry about how long the banking giant can hold out, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit insists that Citigroup will not change and won’t sell itself.

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.

Can you tell me what Thain is doing nowadays? Is he still at his job, working hard, or has he developed a nice case of senioritis since BofA had agreed to acquire the firm? Any idea where he'll head next if he leaves Merrill following the merger?

Feel free to PM...

I don't think so. It's the BofA employees who should be keeping one eye on the classifieds.

According to the Charlotte Observer,

Yeah, by replacing his own FA's. It just doesn't make sense for BofA to maintain their own flailing brokerage business with a powerhouse like Merrill now under their belt.

Just got a call from the head of recruiting (worked in S&T/Research) this summer and she said that all offers were going to be honored. She stated that i should plan to start as scheduled.

I plan to keep in touch with the recruiters and my team and will report back with any new findings...

Apologies for arriving late to the party! As I'm not currently in NY, I am a bit behind the news, but, boy, when I opened up WSJ/Dealbook/Dealbreaker/etc. this morning, what a an interesting mix of stories! I'm a was a bit flooded with mixed emotions: schadenfreude that my rival was about to go under, but compassion for my friends at the firm; sympathy that one of the firms for which I was rooting would be acquired by a second-tier shop; and growing concern over whether this will eventually affect me personally (even outside of NY, I'm seeing significant stagnation in dealflow...).

Sympathies to those affected, and I will try to remain a bit more tactful than usual, as it does suck to be in such a situation. If you want to hear my real thoughts, however, send me a PM and I'd be glad to share... as a hint, it involves the absurdiites and detriments of affirmative action.

It looks like Morgan Stanley perhaps made a big error in not acquiring Merrill Lynch. Even though Morgan Stanley could not examine Merrill's books in 48 hours, had Morgan Stanley acquired Merrill Lynch we probably would have seen the rise of the new number one investment bank in the world. Yes, Goldman Sachs would have been overthrown by Morgan Stanley for top investment bank.....

http://www.cnbc.com/id/26708319