merrill lynch

Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. , usually referred to as Merrill Lynch, is an investment banking and stock brokerage company. As one of the world's leading financial management and advisory companies, it has one of the most recognizable names in the world of finance. The company occupy most of the 34 stories in 4 World Financial Center.

History

The company was founded on January 7, 1914, when Charles E. Merrill & Co. opened for business at 7 Wall Street in New York City. A few months later, Merrill's friend, Edmund C. Lynch, joined him and in 1915 the name was officially changed to Merrill, Lynch & Co. In the 1920s the firm's New York office was at 120 Broadway, and it also had offices in Detroit, Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles. Today, the multinational company operates in more than 40 countries around the world, managing client assets in excess of US$1.8 trillion.

Analyst conflict-of-interest cases

A settlement reached in May 2002 with New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer imposed a $100 million fine as well as an agreement to sever all links between analysts' pay and investment banking revenue. The settlement was related to wrongdoings by equity analyst Henry Blodget. In December 2002 the company was fined an additional $100 million. In February 2005, Merrill Lynch has been ordered by an arbitration panel of the National Association of Securities Dealers to pay over $1 million to Gary and Lisa Friedman on their claim that Merrill Lynch hid conflicts of interest and issued fraudulent analyst reports and ratings in order to boost the firm's investment banking revenue.