John D. Finnegan, chairman of the Merrill Lynch Management, Compensation and Development committee said, "The Board accepted Mr. Thain and his management team's request and applauded the Thain-led management team's superb performance in an exceptionally challenging environment."
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies, with offices in 40 countries and territories and total client assets of approximately $1.5 trillion at September 26, 2008. As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Merrill Lynch owns approximately half of BlackRock, one of the world's largest publicly traded investment management companies with more than $1.3 trillion in assets under management at September 30, 2008. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.
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