Merrill Lynch Won’t Discuss Lehman Brothers Exposure
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–Merrill Lynch & Co. (MER) dodged analyst questions
regarding Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s (LEHMQ) bankruptcy exposure.
On Thursday’s third-quarter earnings conference call, the firm stated it does not
discuss specific numbers in terms of counterparty exposure.
Lehman Brothers, which filed for bankruptcy last month, has affected many Wall
Street banks that had significant counterparty exposure to Lehman.
The dislocations that happened in September with Lehman were “certainly a big
driver of the numbers that we disclosed today,” said Nelson Chai, Merrill’s chief
financial officer. Chief Executive John Thain added the unwinding process of
Lehman has been “significantly more extensive than anybody would have thought.”
The bank, which is set to be acquired by Bank of America Corp. (BAC) in the first
quarter of 2009, posted a third-quarter loss of $5.2 billion. It was the fifth
straight quarterly loss for Merrill.
The BofA merger is pending Merrill Lynch shareholder approval. The firm indicated
on the conference call that the vote will take place mid- to late November.
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