Merrill May Cut 10,000 Jobs in Merger, Bove Says; Fleming, Montag May Stay

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from Bloomberg:



Merrill May Cut 10,000 Jobs in Merger, Bove Says (Update4)

By Jeff Kearns

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co. may eliminate 10,000 jobs after Bank of America Corp. completes its $50 billion acquisition of the firm, according to Ladenburg Thalmann Inc.'s Richard Bove.

``Bank of America's `slash and burn' style following acquisitions is likely to be pronounced at Merrill,'' the analyst wrote in a note to clients. ``That company still has approximately $30 billion in securities that could be written down. It overlaps with Bank of America in multiple divisions.''

Merrill had 60,900 employees as of Sept. 26, according to Bloomberg data. Gregory Fleming, Merrill's president and chief operating officer, and Thomas Montag, who joined the firm in August as trading chief, are likely to be offered jobs at the combined companies, the Financial Times reported, citing people close to the situation.

``The transition process has just begun,'' said Scott Silvestri, a spokesman for Bank of America. ``We haven't determined the number of positions to be eliminated.''

Merrill Chief Executive Officer John Thain said he expects ``thousands'' of job losses from the takeover by Bank of America, the second-biggest U.S. bank by market value after JPMorgan Chase & Co. Most of the cuts will fall in information technology, operations and ``corporate functions,'' Thain said in a Bloomberg Television interview yesterday.

Banks worldwide have pared more than 130,000 jobs since June 2007 as firms including Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos. collapsed amid more than $660 billion in losses and writedowns since the global credit crisis began more than a year ago, according to Bloomberg data. .....(more)

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