What exactly did "Mother Merrill" represent? Is the culture of BofA still like that?

Was listening to an interview recently with an old Merrill exec. In somewhat vague terms, he kept referring to the "Mother Merrill" culture of Merrill Lynch in the early '00s. Could any Merrill alums shed a little more light on what exactly this term means? Was it a good or bad thing? Does it still exist in some form at BofA today?

Will be working at BofA soon. Interested to know a little bit more about the firm's history.