Bank of America Executive Change

Bank of America today announced the Global Banking, Securities and Wealth Management leadership team that will be in place once the combination with Merrill Lynch & Co. is complete.

Greg Fleming, currently president and chief operating officer of Merrill Lynch, will head Global Corporate and Investment Banking, which will include commercial banking. He will operate from New York. David Darnell, currently president of Global
Commercial Banking, will continue as head of Global Commercial Banking reporting to Fleming. He will operate from Charlotte.

Tom Montag, currently global head of Sales and Trading at Merrill Lynch, will be head of Global Markets which includes sales, trading and research. He will operate from New York. Capital Markets will report to both Montag and Fleming.

Peter Kraus, executive vice president of Global Strategy at Merrill Lynch, has decided to leave the company after the merger to pursue other opportunities. "While at Merrill Lynch Peter provided valuable insight and advice to me and the team. We know he will be successful in whatever he pursues and wish him well," Thain said.

Keith Banks, president of Global Wealth and Investment Management at Bank of America, will be head of U.S. Trust and Columbia Management. He will operate from New York.

Bob McCann, vice chairman and president, Global Wealth Management at Merrill Lynch, will be head of the combined financial advisor organization. He will operate from New York.

The leader of Global Wealth and Investment Management will be determined in the future as the company works to define the target environment through the transition process.

Cathy Bessant, president of Global Product Solutions at Bank of America, will be head of Global Product Solutions for the combined companies. She will operate from Charlotte.

Jim Kelly, Business Executive-Technology and Operations at Bank of America, will head technology and operations support for all of Thain's businesses. He will operate from Charlotte.

"With these talented individuals and others who will be announced as we move forward I am more than ever convinced that we will be the world's premier financial services company," Thain said.

Top 25 Women in US Banking

In a year when writedowns, bankruptcies and uncertainties have plagued financial markets, U.S. Banker, published by SourceMedia, has showcased a collection of underreported success stories in its sixth annual ranking of The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking (The 25 MPWIB). This year's ranking details how the most influential female executives in the financial services industry have kept their business units' revenue increasing and their profit goals on course in the face of significant financial and economic headwinds.

The ranking, featured in U.S. Banker's October issue and online at www.US-Banker.com, recognizes the professional achievements, personal tenacity and influence of top-performing financial services executives.

"With the pillars of Wall Street crumbling around them, these remarkable women steadily delivered outstanding results for their institutions while making meaningful contributions to their communities," said Holly Sraeel, editorial director of U.S. Banker at SourceMedia and president of The 25 MPWIB. "They navigated a complex economic environment and took on increasing responsibilities to drive results and implement best practices within their respective organizations."

Heidi Miller, JPMorgan Chase's CEO of Treasury and Securities Services, again topped The 25 MPWIB ranking for posting extraordinary financial results in 2008.

Barbara Desoer, Bank of America's president of Mortgage, Home Equity and Insurance Services, ranks second in this year's list. She is followed by Wells Fargo's Carrie Tolstedt, senior EVP of Community Banking; U.S. Bancorp's Pamela Joseph, vice chair of Payment Services; and Citigroup's Sallie Krawcheck, CEO, Citi Global Wealth Management, respectively.

U.S. Banker's October issue also profiles The 25 Women to Watch, a ranking that honors women whose leadership continues to shape the financial services industry. This year's top five, in order, include TD Bank Financial Group's Colleen Johnston, group head of Finance and CFO; Cascade Financial's Carol Nelson, president and CEO; Wells Fargo's Avid Modjtabai, EVP and CIO; Citigroup's Elyse Weiner, managing director, global head of Liquidity and Investments, GTS; and Citigroup's Maura Markus, EVP and head of International Consumer Banking.

For the second year, U.S. Banker ranked The Top 25 Nonbank Women in Finance, recognizing the top performers in the securities, asset management, insurance, private equity and exchange businesses. Topping this year's ranking is Nicole S. Arnaboldi, vice chairman of Alternative Investments, Credit Suisse; Clara Furse, CEO, London Stock Exchange; Stacy Bash-Polley, partner and managing director and co-head of Fixed Income Sales in the Americas, Goldman Sachs; Abigail Johnson, president of Personal and Workplace Investing, Fidelity; and Clare R. Scherrer, partner and managing director, Goldman Sachs.
Finally, the magazine also recognized the "Top 3 Banking Teams," naming U.S. Bancorp, Zions National Bank and Citigroup as the top three, respectively. U.S. Bancorp, headquartered in Minneapolis, has landed the top spot for three years since the designation debuted in 2005.

In addition to recognizing the accomplishments of these distinguished women, it also is important to note that this has been a year of firsts for The 25 MPWIB. This is the first time an honoree, Heidi Miller, has topped the list twice, and in consecutive years. This year is the first time a sibling of a former honoree has made the ranking, as this year's number eight on The 25 MPWIB, Diane D'Erasmo, is the sister of 2005 honoree Maryann Bruce, a Wachovia alumnus. Finally, this year's list features an unprecedented number of foreign honorees and new faces. Nine out of the 25 honorees on The 25 MPWIB rankings are new to the list, as are 10 honorees on The 25 Women to Watch and 11 honorees on The Top 25 Nonbank Women in Finance.

U.S. Banking Women

The top women in U.S. banking according to U.S. Banker magazine.

APPENDIX A: The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking
Heidi Miller
CEO, Treasury and Securities Services
JPMorgan Chase

Barbara Desoer
President, Mortgage, Home Equity and Insurance Services
(ranked based on prior role as Chief Technology and Operations Officer)
Bank of America

Carrie Tolstedt
Senior EVP, Community Banking
Wells Fargo

Pamela Joseph
Vice Chair, Payment Services, U.S. Bancorp
Chairman, Elavon
U.S. Bancorp

Sallie Krawcheck
Chairman and CEO
Citi Global Wealth Management
Citigroup

Karen Peetz
CEO of Issuer, Treasury, Broker-Dealer and Hedge Fund Services
(ranked based on prior role as CEO of Global Corporate Trust)
The Bank of New York Mellon

Mollie Hale Carter
President and CEO
Sunflower Bank

Diane D'Erasmo
EVP and Regional President, Commercial Banking
HSBC Bank USA

Sheila Schauer
President and CEO
Four Corners Community Bank

Charlotte McLaughlin
President and CEO, PNC Capital Markets
The PNC Financial Services Group

Catherine Keating
CEO, U.S. Private Bank
JPMorgan Chase

Diane Reyes
Global Treasury and Trade Sales Head
Global Transaction Services
Citi

Amy Woods Brinkley
Global Risk Executive
Bank of America

Diane Thormodsgard
Vice Chairman and Head of Wealth Management
and Securities Services
U.S. Bancorp

Kathleen Murphy
CEO, ING US Wealth Management
ING Group

Iris Chan
EVP, Head of Commercial Banking
Wells Fargo

Barbara Stymiest
COO
Royal Bank of Canada

Deanna Oppenheimer
CEO, UK Retail Banking
Barclays Bank PLC

Beth Mooney
Vice Chair, Community Banking
KeyCorp

Cynthia Smith
SVP and Director of BankCard Products and Services
Zions Bancorporation

Ellen Alemany
CEO
RBS Americas

Ranjana Clark
Senior EVP and CMO
Wachovia

Alberta Cefis
EVP and Group Head, Global Transaction Banking
Scotiabank

Jacque Fiegel
EVP and COO
Coppermark Bank

Lisa Binder
President and COO
Associated Banc-Corp

APPENDIX B: The 25 Women to Watch
Colleen Johnston
Group Head, Finance and CFO
TD Bank Financial Group

Carol Nelson
President and CEO
Cascade Financial Corp.

Avid Modjtabai
CIO
Wells Fargo

Elyse Weiner
Managing Director, Global Head of Liquidity and Investments
Global Transaction Services
Citi

Maura Markus
EVP, Head - International Consumer Banking
Citi

Lynn Pike
President
Capital One Bank

Mary McDowell
President and CEO
CitiFinancial North America

Leslie Godridge
EVP, Head of National Corporate and Institutional Banking
U.S. Bank

Lisa Banner
SVP, Executive Private Banking Manager
Zions First National Bank

Carmen Jordan
SVP, Corporate Energy Services Division Manager
Amegy Bank of Texas

Diana Starcher
Group EVP and Director, Customer Service, Sales and Operations
Wells Fargo

Ellen Costello
CEO
Harris Bankcorp

Catherine Smith
CEO, US Insurance
ING Group

Julie Monaco
Head of Global Transaction Services, North America
Citi

Katrina King
SVP, Treasury Management Sales Manager
Amegy Bank of Texas

Lisa Lane White
SVP and Senior Director of Innovative Solutions
Synovus

Anne Finucane
Chief Marketing Officer
Bank of America

Cece Sutton
EVP, Head of Retail and Small Business Banking
Wachovia

Karen Lee Hail
Senior EVP and COO
MidSouth Bancorp

Cara Heiden
Co-President, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
Wells Fargo

Susan Horton
Chairman, CEO and president
Wheatland Bank

Donna DeMaio
President and CEO
MetLife Bank

Lori Chillingworth
SVP and Business Banking Director
Zions First National Bank

Mary Tuuk
EVP and Chief Risk Officer
Fifth Third Bancorp

Deloris Sims
President and CEO
Legacy Bank

APPENDIX C: The Top 3 Banking Teams
U.S. Bancorp
Zions National Bank
Citigroup

APPENDIX D: The Top 25 Nonbank Women in Finance
Nicole S. Arnaboldi
Vice Chairman, Alternative Investments
Credit Suisse

Clara Furse
CEO
London Stock Exchange

Stacy Bash-Polley
Partner and Managing Director
Co-Head of Fixed Income Sales in the Americas
Goldman Sachs

Abigail Johnson
President, Personal and Workplace Investing
Fidelity

Clare R. Scherrer
Partner and Managing Director
Goldman Sachs

Maliz Beams
President and CEO TIAA-CREF Individual and Institutional Services
EVP, Institutional and Individual Client Services
TIAA-Cref

Anne Stausboll
Interim Chief Investment Officer
CalPERS

Wei Christianson
Managing Director and China Chief Executive
Morgan Stanley

Joyce A. Phillips
President and Chief Operating Officer
American Life Insurance Company (ALICO)

Renu Sud Karnad
Joint Managing Director
Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited, India

Marjorie Magner
Managing Director
Brysam Global Partners

Candace Browning
President, Global Research
Merrill Lynch

Carla J. Brooks
Managing Director/Deputy Portfolio Manager
Commerce Street Capital LLC

Renuka Ramnath
Managing Director and CEO
ICICI Venture Funds Management Company Limited

Margaret Keane
President and CEO, Retail Consumer Finance Unit
GE Money-Americas

Barbara Goodstein
EVP Marketing, Chief Innovation Officer and CMO
AXA Equitable

M. Elaine Crocker
President
Moore Capital Management

Lisa M. Weber
President, Individual Business
MetLife, Inc.

Anne Dias Griffin
Founder and Managing Director
Aragon Global Management LLC

Karen Finerman
Founder
Metropolitan Capital

Christine L. Reilly
President
CIT Small Business Lending Corporation

Susan Shaffer Solovay
CEO
Pomegranate Capital

Eileen Murray
President
Duff Capital Advisors

Joan Kelly
Group Executive, Systems Delivery,
MasterCard Global Technology and Operations
MasterCard Worldwide

Diane Offereins
Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
Discover Financial Services

Wachovia and Morgan Stanley?

The New York Times is suggesting a merger between US Investment bank Morgan Stanley and Wachovia.

Such a deal would leave Goldman Sachs as the sole remaining independent investment bank on Wall Street. Two other bulge bracket banks, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers have gone to the wall. A third, Merrill Lynch, has gone the route of joining their retail bank brethren Bank of America.

Credit Crunch Today

AIG
American Insurance Group
American Insurance Group
Largest Insurance firm in the US.
BofA
Bank of America
David Paterson
Governor of New York
Distort and Short
Strategy allegedly used by some short-sellers to drive down the share price of companies.
John Thain
Last CEO of an independent Merrill Lynch (2008)
Lehman Brothers
Once great investment bank bought down in the Credit Crunch.
Lehman Brothers International (Europe)
Lehman Brothers European subsidiary based in London.
Naked short-selling
Short selling where the seller does not borrow the shares first.
Short-sellers
Traders who aim to profit from share declines. Typically they borrow a stock, sell it and buy it back after its price has decreased.

Bank of America Spin on Merrill Lynch Purchase

Bank of America Corporation today announced it has agreed to acquire Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. in a $50 billion all-stock transaction that creates a company unrivalled in its breadth of financial services and global reach.

"Acquiring one of the premier wealth management, capital markets, and advisory companies is a great opportunity for our shareholders," Bank of America Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ken Lewis said. "Together, our companies are more valuable because of the synergies in our businesses."

"Merrill Lynch is a great global franchise and I look forward to working with Ken Lewis and our senior management teams to create what will be the leading financial institution in the world with the combination of these two firms," said John Thain, chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch.

Under terms of the transaction, Bank of America would exchange .8595 shares of Bank of America common stock for each Merrill Lynch common share. The price is 1.8 times stated tangible book value. Bank of America expects to achieve $7 billion in pre-tax expense savings, fully realized by 2012. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to earnings by 2010.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2009. It has been approved by directors of both companies and is subject to shareholder votes at both companies and standard regulatory approvals
.
Under the agreement, three directors of Merrill Lynch will join the Bank of America Board of Directors. The combined company would have leadership positions in retail brokerage and wealth management. By adding Merrill Lynch's more than 16,000 financial advisers, Bank of America would have the largest brokerage in the world with more than 20,000 advisers and $2.5 trillion in client assets.

The combination brings global scale in investment management, including an approximately 50 percent ownership in BlackRock, which has $1.4 trillion in assets under management. Bank of America has $589 billion in assets under management. Adding Merrill Lynch both enhances current strengths at Bank of America and creates new ones, particularly outside of the United States. Merrill Lynch adds strengths in global debt underwriting, global equities and global merger and acquisition advice.

After the acquisition, Bank of America would be the number one underwriter of global high yield debt, the third largest underwriter of global equity and the ninth largest adviser on global mergers and acquisitions based on pro forma first half of 2008 results. Bank of America was advised by J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC, Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller and Bank of America Securities. It was represented by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Merrill Lynch was represented by Shearman & Sterling.

ICE at Bank Of America

IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE:ICE) announced today that its Chief Financial Officer, Scott A. Hill, will speak at the Bank of America 38th Annual Investment Conference in San Francisco, CA on Monday, September 15, 2008, at 3:00 p.m. PT (6:00 p.m. ET). The presentation will be broadcast live over the Internet and can be accessed via the Investors & Media page of the company's website at www.theice.com