Wall Street

The Thundering Herd Laid Low: A Merrill Lynch Timeline

Chris Black | January 23, 2009, 3:18PM

Key moments in the Merrill Lynch saga over the last year:

December 1, 2007 - John Thain begins his tenure as Merrill Lynch CEO, replacing Stanley O'Neal who had resigned after the company announced billion-dollar losses stemming form its mortgage investments.

September 15, 2008 - A deal is announced for Bank of America to buy Merrill, which, for the previous four quarters, has posted losses totaling $17 billion. The deal comes amid a broader financial crisis connected to the mortgage meltdown: that same day, Lehman Brothers declares the largest bankruptcy in American history, and the following day, American International Group is essentially nationalized.

October 14, 2008 - Bank of America gets $25 billion in bailout funds.

December 5, 2008 - Merrill and Bank of America shareholders vote to approve the takeover.

December 8, 2008 - Merrill's compensation committee approves payouts to staff totaling $3-4 billion, at least a month ahead of schedule. Some at B of A complain that the accelerated schedule was an effort to ensure that B of A could not cut the payments when it took over January 1.

Days later - Bank of America learns that Merrill's fourth-quarter losses were greater than expected. B of A begins lobbying the federal government for more TARP money to ease the takeover.

December 29, 2008 - Merrill bonuses paid, in the nick of time (sub. req.).

January 1, 2009 - Bank of America officially takes control of Merrill. It will later rename its brokerage division Merrill Lynch Wealth Management.

January 16, 2009 - Treasury announces it will give Bank of America another $20 billion in TARP money, to help it absorb the larger-than-expected Merrill losses.

January 16, 2009 - Bank of America reports a fourth quarter loss of $1.79 billion, including a $15.3 billion loss (sub. req.) posted by Merrill Lynch for the same quarter.

The Daily Muck

The Daily Muck

Chris Black | January 23, 2009, 10:22AM

Inauguration officials have admitted that the music played by a quartet including Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman was in fact taped. Carole Florman, a spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies acknowledged on Thursday that the cold temperatures on Tuesday morning made a live performance impossible. The taped sounds were recorded by the quartet two days earlier. (New York Times)

Lawyers for embattled Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich are considering a lawsuit to halt an impeachment trial they describe as "completely unfair." Blagojevich himself has said that he has no intention to mount a defense unless the trial's rules are changed by the Illinois Supreme Court so that he may call witnesses and subpoena documents. (Associated Press)

An upcoming report by the Government Accountability Office focusing on the Veterans Affairs Department is expected to highlight the Bush administration's inability to properly plan for the treatment of veterans. The report, to be released Friday, finds the budget for the VA to be seriously flawed, understating by millions of dollars the costs for treating thousands of patients. (Associated Press)

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The Daily Muck

The Daily Muck

Chris Black | January 22, 2009, 10:00AM

President Obama issued an executive order yesterday limiting the ability of former presidents to keep certain records private. Under the order, former presidents, former vice presidents, and relatives of former presidents will have less control over the release of their records. The president and the National Archives will have ultimate control over release decisions. (Associated Press)

Another executive order drafted by President Obama, expected to be issued today, would close the Guantanamo Bay facility within a year. He is also expected to ban abusive interrogation practices and order a review of detention policies for captured militants. (Reuters)

A former employee of Florida's Department of Children and Families pleaded guilty to one charge of producing child pornography after he was caught taking nude photos of two teenage boys, one of whom was identified as a foster child of the agency. The crime carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years. (Associated Press)

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The Daily Muck

The Daily Muck

Chris Black | January 21, 2009, 9:32AM

The Obama administration has instructed military prosecutors at Guantanamo Bay to seek a 120-day suspension of legal proceedings. One of the first cases to go on hold was that of Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan when Khadr was 15. It is unclear whether any other ongoing trials will be postponed, as three of five defendants are representing themselves and not certain to agree to Obama's request. (Washington Post)

In another one of his first actions as the new president, Barack Obama issued an order to all federal agencies to stop the enactment of any new regulations until the administration can review them. It will take much longer to undo regulations put in place by the Bush administration before Obama was sworn in. In its final months, the Bush administration issued numerous orders weakening environmental protections and workplace safeguards among other things.(Associated Press)

Embattled Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich missed a second deadline Tuesday to file a response to impeachment charges. The Senate will assume a plea of "not guilty" and proceed with impeachment hearings. The tardiness of Blagojevich's response may be related to the resignation from the impeachment case of his defense team, one member of which referred to the impeachment as a "lynching" and the outcome as a "forgone conclusion." (Associated Press)

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The Daily Muck

The Daily Muck

Chris Black | January 20, 2009, 9:54AM

A federal judge ruled Monday that Vice President Dick Cheney will have broad say over which of his office's records get preserved under the Presidential Records Act. The ruling could complicate investigators' efforts to piece together the Vice President's involvement in certain Bush-era scandals such as the handling of Guantanamo detainees and the exposure of Valerie Plame's secret identity. (Associated Press)

The latest in a financial fraud story reminiscent of James Bond: regulators were warned about Marcus Schrenker --- the investment manager who attempted to fake his death in an airplane crash by parachuting out mid-flight --- in at least three states where he did business. Although the earliest complaint was filed in 2002, investigators failed to act until suspected losses reached into the millions of dollars. (Associated Press)

And in another case of a fugitive money manager, Arthur Nadel vanished the same day his six hedge funds were expected to deliver a $50 million payout to investors. The only thing investors received were very real doubts about the existence of their savings. (Associated Press)

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The Daily Muck

The Daily Muck

Chris Black | January 19, 2009, 10:17AM

A Florida hedge fund manager has gone missing after being accused of defrauding investors of millions. While it is too soon to know the exact value of the alleged fraud, Arthur Nadel managed a fund that may have been worth as much as $350 million, most of which has been lost. (Associated Press)

Another "oops" at Gitmo, where Haji Bismullah became the latest detainee to be released after being deemed no longer an "enemy combatant." Bismullah was released after a military panel seemed to acknowledge a mistake of grand proportions. (New York Times)

The Government Accountability Office released a report finding that 83 of the nation's 100 largest corporations maintain subsidiaries in offshore tax havens. Among these 83 companies were several, including General Motors and AIG, currently receiving bailout money. (Associated Press)

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