A popular statistic in the UK is that you are more likely to get a
divorce than to change your bank account. It's probably fictitious,
but Merrill Lynch executives must be hoping that there's some truth
to it.
The high-profile battle between the US broker and Eliot Spitzer,
the New York State attorney general, has been highly embarrassing.
It has called Merrill's integrity into question and left it with
one of the largest ever securities-related fines of $100 million
(which is still less than half what the firm spent on stationery
last year). The settlement may not prevent individuals bringing
lawsuits of their own, or joining a class-action suit.
The deal with Spitzer includes an agreement to reform the
relationship between Merrill's investment bank and its research
arm. This follows Spitzer's allegation that Merrill misled retail
investors with over-optimistic research recommendations on firms
that were also its investment...
