Business
Merrill Lynch to be no more
Nearly each investment business of Bank of America, including wealth management and robo-advisory platform, will receive a shorter name and be called Merrill instead of Merrill Lynch, BofA announced on Monday.
The investment bank is to be called BofA Securities and the U.S. Trust name will be dropped from the private bank. The individual units, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Merrill Edge and Merrill Guided Investing will keep their names.
Merrill Lynch came to pass as the partnership of an investment bank and a brokerage. The bank was founded by Charles Merrill and Edmund Lynch in New York in 1915. The subprime mess pushed the bank over the edge in 2007 and it was bought by Bank of America in 2008. Even though BofA’s chief tried to undo the deal after finding out the gravity of Merrill Lynch’s woes, the Secretary of the Treasury warned that ditching the deal would have unforeseeable consequences.
Bank of America has been struggling with the aftermath of the takeover ever since. In September 2012, the bank announced a USD 2.43 billion deal to settle accusations that it misled investors about the acquisition of Merrill Lynch. The bank did not tell its shareholders about big bonus payments Merrill had approved before the merger closed, or about Merrill’s actual financial position.
The key changes are:
Front page photo by AFP/Justin Tallis
The investment bank is to be called BofA Securities and the U.S. Trust name will be dropped from the private bank. The individual units, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Merrill Edge and Merrill Guided Investing will keep their names.
Merrill Lynch came to pass as the partnership of an investment bank and a brokerage. The bank was founded by Charles Merrill and Edmund Lynch in New York in 1915. The subprime mess pushed the bank over the edge in 2007 and it was bought by Bank of America in 2008. Even though BofA’s chief tried to undo the deal after finding out the gravity of Merrill Lynch’s woes, the Secretary of the Treasury warned that ditching the deal would have unforeseeable consequences.
Bank of America has been struggling with the aftermath of the takeover ever since. In September 2012, the bank announced a USD 2.43 billion deal to settle accusations that it misled investors about the acquisition of Merrill Lynch. The bank did not tell its shareholders about big bonus payments Merrill had approved before the merger closed, or about Merrill’s actual financial position.
The key changes are:
- Bank of America remains the enterprise brand and also represents banking services for people and companies.
- As part of this, U.S. Trust be renamed Bank of America Private Bank.
- Merrill will serve as the sub-brand for the investing and wealth management offerings.
- BofA Securities will represent the institutional broker-dealer businesses, including Global Markets, Investment Banking, and Capital Markets.
Front page photo by AFP/Justin Tallis
