Bank of America has formed an Electronic Trading Services (ETS) group, which is dedicated to developing and delivering a suite of electronic trading products to the bank's institutional investor clients. The move is part of BAS's strategy to become the technology leader in institutional trading.

Bank of America has announced the addition of Mark Oldcorn to its financial institutions group (FIG) for corporate and investment banking (CIB) in Europe. Oldcorn is appointed managing director and joins from Goldman Sachs where he was executive director in the European insurance debt capital markets team. Alberto Piedra, head of Bank of America's FIG CIB group for Europe, says: "Mark's appointment reaffirms the bank's commitment to Europe through the growth of its investment banking business and in particular that of the Financial Institutions Group, which has been ear-marked as a key area for expansion this year."

Bank of America has named Christiane Mandell as the head of global foreign exchange for the company's global FX group, based in New York. Mandell gains the post following the recent merger between BoA and FleetBoston Financial. Mandell was formerly head of investor client management for equities and debt and will now report to Jonathan Moulds, head of liquid products at BoA.

Merrill Lynch

Merrill Lynch

Not for the first time, Merrill Lynch is making a push into forex. While the competitors sit back and wait for it to fail, Merrill insists that it will become a top-ranking firm. Katie Astbury reports.

Merrill Lynch wins a special award for most improved bank in fixed income partly because it has overhauled its technology, It has rolled out a number of new features, many of which are very sales-friendly. And it has done all this cheaply.

How much would you pay to dine with your CEO? Too much and you'll be seen as a creep, too little and you can wave goodbye to that promotion. That's the quandary facing Merrill Lynchers, who can bid for a tête-á-tête with Stan O'Neal - CEO in waiting.

Head of EMEA debt markets, Merrill Lynch

Awards for Excellence 2002

Hugh McColl is a hard act to follow. He was, after all, the man who turned a small south-east regional bank into one of the world's largest financial institutions. And he had a reputation for toughness. A former marine, he kept a grenade on his desk and would give it to any employee that had disappointed him.

Merrill Lynch has merged its high-grade and high-yield research teams. So has JP Morgan. They say it provides quality coverage, especially for fallen angels. But is it really just cost cutting in a bear market?

Head of global debt markets group, Merrill Lynch

Lehman Brothers escaped across the river, its emergency relocation plan kicking in within minutes of the tragedy. Merrill did not fare quite as well.

David Komansky doesn’t step down as Merrill Lynch’s CEO until 2004 but he has recognized that his most important remaining task is to engineer a smooth succession. With the sector seemingly moving into a deep downturn this is all the more important. Antony Currie reports on the emergence of Stan O’Neal as Komansky’s anointed successor

The world’s best investment bank:

The world’s best equity-linked house

Merrill Lynch Investment Managers’ approach to the US institutional market can best be described as nascent. Until two months ago, there wasn’t even anyone charged with the responsibility for overseeing, developing or even simply describing Merrill’s US institutional business.

Colleagues describe Jeff Peek as straightforward, engaging, decent, and a man with a clear vision and a good sense of humour.

Merrill Lynch Investment Managers has been turned around from a poorly organized, underperforming, insular group overly focused on value investing and distribution to US retail. Now its performance looks strong, and it has a better balance of customers and investment styles. Even its acquisition of the troubled Mercury Asset Management seems finally to be paying dividends. Much of the credit goes to Jeff Peek, who took over in December 1997, bringing a breath of fresh air and a slew of judicious hires. He’s done so well that he’s in the running to head Merrill Lynch one day.

Merrill Lynch is reshuffling its European investment banking division to create a new structured credit unit.

Head of investment banking for Merrill Lynch Europe, Middle East & Africa

Several banks are benefiting from the slew of former DLJ bankers who have decided that their new owners, CSFB, are not for them. Lehman and Salomon Smith Barney have done particularly well in the US, and UBS Warburg and Deutsche Bank are not far behind. But in Europe another name has joined the list, and it may be a surprise to some: Bank of America.

Merrill Lynch

What's the signiWcance of Merrill Lynch's decision to appoint a British banker, Kevan Watts, in London as co-head of its global investment banking group? "The location is clearly a large part of it but my background outside the US also played a role," Watts says. Watts joined Merrill in 1981 and spent 17 years toiling for it outside the US. He worked in advisory and Wnance for UK clients in the 1980s and recalls Xoating Euromoney in 1986 at £4.60 a share. "It's been a very successful company," he says.

Once branded the internet dullard, Merrill Lynch is on the offensive. More than a decade after the brokerage firm bought a bank in Utah, it’s launching a nationwide retail banking operation, based on the internet, and paying money-market rates on insured deposits. That, and its plans for a banking and investment-services joint-venture with HSBC, may take its head off the merger block. Antony Currie reports

The biggest opportunities for growth and profits in the fixed-income world in 2000 are in Europe. Corporate bonds, high-yield, securitization will flourish. There will be a fierce contest, as all manner of intermediaries - commercial and investment banks, Americans and Europeans fight for a place in the bond bulge bracket. According to the US model this should guarantee the eventual winners a honey-pot combination of high market share and profitability. The competition to hire the people - high-level originators, salesmen expert at advising institutional investors strategically, skilled and market-savvy credit analysts - will become ever more intense. Peter Lee's report heads a series of articles on the future of fixed income