Merrill (company)
Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment banking arm, both firms engage in prime brokerage and broker-dealer activities. The firm is headquartered in New York City, and once occupied the entire 34 stories of 250 Vesey Street, part of the Brookfield Place complex in Manhattan. Merrill employs over 14,000 financial advisors and manages $2.8 trillion in client assets ($3.4 trillion for Global Wealth and Investment Management).[2] The company also operates Merrill Edge, a division for investment and related services, including call center counsultancy.
This article is about the wealth management division of Bank of America. For the investment banking division of Bank of America, see BofA Securities. For the footwear company, see Merrell (company).Merrill
January 6, 1914
Worldwide
−2,300,000,000 United States dollar (2012) 
290,000,000 United States dollar (2012)
603,000,000,000 United States dollar (2012)
15,100 (Financial Advisors as of 2010)
- Merrill Lynch Wealth Management
- Merrill Private Wealth Management
- Merrill Guided Investing
- Merrill Edge
Prior to 2009, the company was publicly owned and traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed to be acquired by Bank of America on September 14, 2008, at the height of the financial crisis of 2007–2008, the same weekend that Lehman Brothers was allowed to fail. The acquisition was completed in January 2009[3] and Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. was merged into Bank of America Corporation in October 2018, with certain Bank of America subsidiaries continuing to carry the Merrill Lynch name, including the broker-dealer Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith.[4][5] In 2019, Bank of America rebranded the unit to "Merrill".[6]
Merrill Lynch rose to prominence on the strength of its network of financial advisors, sometimes referred to as the "thundering herd", that allowed it to place securities it underwrote directly.[7] In contrast, many established Wall Street firms, such as Morgan Stanley, relied on groups of independent brokers for placement of the securities they underwrote.[8] It was once known as the "Catholic" firm of Wall Street[9] and most of its executives were Irish Catholics.[10]
History[edit]
Founding and early history[edit]
The company was founded on January 6, 1914, when Charles E. Merrill opened Charles E. Merrill & Co. for business at 7 Wall Street in New York City.[11] A few months later, Merrill's friend, Edmund C. Lynch, joined him, and in 1915 the name was officially changed to Merrill, Lynch & Co.[12] At that time, the firm's name included a comma between Merrill and Lynch, which was dropped in 1938.[13] In 1916, Winthrop H. Smith joined the firm.
Regulatory actions[edit]
Orange County settlement[edit]
In 1998, Merrill Lynch paid Orange County, California $400 million (~$698 million in 2023) to settle accusations that it sold inappropriate and risky investments to former county treasurer Robert Citron.[72] Citron lost $1.69 billion, which forced the county to file for bankruptcy in December 1994.[72] The county sued a dozen or more securities companies, advisors and accountants, but Merrill settled without admitting liability, paying $400 million of a total $600 million recovered by the county.[73][74]
Analyst Research settlement[edit]
In 2002, Merrill Lynch agreed to pay out $100 million (~$162 million in 2023) for publishing misleading research. As part of the agreement with the New York attorney general and other state securities regulators, Merrill Lynch agreed to increase research disclosure and work to decouple research from investment banking.[75]