merrill lynch

Banking Bandits Get Their Reward

Aug 5, 2009
By now everybody must know that the top banking executives responsible for our economic meltdown have no shame. Otherwise they would not have dared give themselves such hefty bonuses as a deeply perverse reward for actions that caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs and homes. By now everybody must know that the top banking executives responsible for our economic meltdown have no shame.

SEC Fines B of A $33M for Bonus Bust

Aug 4, 2009
It's baffling how $33 million can seem like a relatively small sum lately, but given that it's all that Bank of America will have to pay the SEC for failing to inform investors about the billions in bonuses the bank paid Merrill Lynch executives during B of A's acquisition of Merrill last year, it seems more like a light knuckle-rap than a full-on spanking.

B of A Chairman Dethroned

Apr 30, 2009
Kenneth D. Lewis was relieved of the Bank of America chairmanship by shareholders Wednesday in a backlash from the highly criticized Merrill Lynch acquisition. He does, however, retain his two other titles, president and CEO.
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Living Large and in Charge

Apr 8, 2009
Not surprisingly, Lawrence Summers is convinced that he deserved every penny of the $8 million that Wall Street firms paid him last year. And why shouldn’t he be cut in on the loot from the loopholes in the toxic derivatives market that he pushed into law when he was Bill Clinton’s treasury secretary?

Obamas Hire Merrill Lynch Decorator

Mar 31, 2009
Although they're allotted $100,000 to redecorate, Barack and Michelle Obama will spend their own money updating the White House. The first family has turned to Michael S. Smith for the task. The designer has worked for Steven Spielberg, Rupert Murdoch and former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain, whose decorating habits have come to epitomize corporate greed.

New York’s A.G. Subpoenas Bank Execs Over Bonuses

Jan 28, 2009
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sent out subpoenas to Bank of America's Chief Administrative Officer J. Steele Alphin and recently ousted Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain on Tuesday to look into hefty bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch higher-ups late last year -- even as the company was bleeding billions in losses.

Just How Fat Are Wall Street’s Fat Cats?

Oct 7, 2008
Sure, we've all heard the stories about Wall Street bigwigs lining their pockets with gold dubloons while the rest of us scramble to save pennies, but The New York Times has drawn out that contrast in graphic detail with a handy series of charts showing the total earnings (including bonuses) of 12 top executives from 2003-2007.

Bush Makes Cameo Appearance at White House

Sep 19, 2008
President Bush had been laying low over recent days, but it seems his inner circle considered it prudent to trot him out for a brief appearance at the White House. He surfaced on Thursday to speak vaguely about the snowballing economic crisis on Wall Street before disappearing once again.

Socialism for the Super-Rich

Sep 17, 2008
Here we go again: The Federal Reserve is bailing out another tanking financial institution -- the insurance behemoth American International Group -- by sinking $85 billion into AIG in return for a stake in the company. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for a Wall Street investigation following this latest startling agreement between big government and big business.