Merrill Lynch

According to the BofA Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers for July, investors’ forecast over the global economy and corporate earnings turned bearish.

A lender to wealthy customers First Republic plans its split-off from Bank of America. The bank reported it is going to make some acquisitions, expand its branch network and recruit bankers and money managers. While it already went public in 1986 it will again pursue an initial public offering to fuel its growth, First Republic co-founder and Chief Executive Jim Herbert told.

As usual, Theflyonthewall.com posted headlines from research reports and press releases on its website, before banks could share their recommendations with their clients.

As it’s known, in March Theflyonthewall.com was engaged in "systematic misappropriation" by US District Judge Denise Cote essentially getting a "free ride" from its quick publication of upgrades and downgrades that can move stocks higher and lower

Matthew Greenburgh resigned from Bank of America Merrill Lynch as the banc hired seven people for its global corporate banking business.

Matthew Greenburgh is one of the architects of the disastrous 67 billion-pound takeover by three European banks of ABN AMRO in 2007.

Bank of America unveiled the intention to expand its business in China.

According to the Wall Street Journal report, the largest US bank is considering incorporating locally in China. Such a move would mean the bank would have to allocate new capital into its Chinese unit.

The BofA seems to bulk up its commercial business in China, instead of its retail banking business, according to the report.

On Thursday BofA’s wealth management head Sallie Krawcheck reported that Bank of America is in process of combining its online brokerage with Merrill Lynch’s web services as a part of a broader push to attract more "emerging affluent" investors.

BofA’s own online service, formerly known as Quick & Reilly, will be integrated with Merrill Lynch online. According to the statement the online brokerages along with Merrill’s call center will be brought under one roof to focus on investors with less than $250,000 of assets.

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan brought his decision in favor of the Bank of America Corp who sued a self-described cybersquatter for using the "bofaml.com" and "mlbofa.com" Internet domain names following the bank's acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co.

The judge found that J. Taikwok Yung used his business Webadviso to register the names in bad faith, hoping to sell them back to the largest U.S. bank and cash in on publicity from the merger.

On Monday a U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff refused the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's effort to expand its lawsuit accusing Bank of America Corp of misleading shareholders over bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch & Co.

"I really worry that a jury, which is my highest concern, would be confused by that double focus," Rakoff said near the end of an hour-long hearing. "The great beauty of the present complaint is it's very simple, very straightforward."

Bankers at Bank of America Corp will be paid their bonuses at the levels close to those of 2007 as the company tries to reduce defections following its takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co., reported the Wall Street Journal citing the source familiar with the case.

Some bankers will likely receive bonuses equal to what they got in 2007 while the overall average is expected to be lower.

BofA Merrill Lynch turned bearish on the industry and downgraded several chipmakers, including Intel Corp., what led to the sharp falling of semiconductor stocks. Shares of Intel fell 6 percent to $19.01. Rival AMD dropped 5 percent to $6.96.
As for other chipmakers the situation is looking the following way: Nvidia dropped 5 percent to $12.87; Micron (MU.N) was down 7 percent at $6.97; and RF Micro (RFMD.O) was down 5 percent at $4.42. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (.SOXX) was down 4 percent at 309.37.

 China should unshackle the yuan from its dollar peg and follow Singapore's lead in targeting a basket of currencies to determine its exchange rate, Merrill Lynch's China economist said on Wednesday.

Linking the yuan to the dollar had done China more harm than good over the past two years, attracting both hot money inflows and international criticism, but a sudden shift to a fully market-determined exchange rate was off the table, Ting Lu said.

 Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management today announced the launch of My Retirement Income™, an innovative feature within the Merrill Lynch Retirement Income Service(®) that connects customized retirement income planning with the ease and unmatched convenience of the Bank of America, N.A. retail banking network. 

 The number of high net-worth individuals in Asia Pacific slumped 14 percent in 2008 and they lost over a fifth of their wealth, leading to only cautious moves from cash back into stocks this year, Merrill Lynch and Capgemini said on Tuesday.

 On Monday Bank of America Corporation agreed to provide investigators with the documents that contain the legal advice the company received when purchasing Merrill Lynch, according to the sources cited by the Wall Street Journal.

 Bank of America Corp announced its plan to spend $20 million in the fourth quarter of 2009 to relaunch Merrill Lynch's name and long-time bull logo. Now the former Merrill Lynch and & Co's operations will be known under the brand Merrill Lynch Wealth Management being one of the two primary units in Bank of America's Global Wealth and investment Management division, Sallie Krawcheck, the division's president, told a press conference.