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| Merrill Lynch boss 'set to leave' | Merrill Lynch boss 'set to leave' |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Speculation is intensifying that US investment bank Merrill Lynch is to part company with embattled chief executive Stan O'Neal. | Speculation is intensifying that US investment bank Merrill Lynch is to part company with embattled chief executive Stan O'Neal. |
| US newspapers say the annoucement is expected early this week after Merrill's board agreed at the weekend that Mr O'Neal needs to go. | US newspapers say the annoucement is expected early this week after Merrill's board agreed at the weekend that Mr O'Neal needs to go. |
| Calls for his departure grew last week after the firm was forced to admit a $7.9bn (£3.85bn) exposure to bad debt. | Calls for his departure grew last week after the firm was forced to admit a $7.9bn (£3.85bn) exposure to bad debt. |
| Merrill Lynch has yet to comment on the reports regarding Mr O'Neal's future. | Merrill Lynch has yet to comment on the reports regarding Mr O'Neal's future. |
| Bad investments | Bad investments |
| Merrill's $7.9bn bad debt write-off was caused by over-exposure to the downturn in the US housing market, that has centred on record loan defaults in the sub-prime mortgage sector. | Merrill's $7.9bn bad debt write-off was caused by over-exposure to the downturn in the US housing market, that has centred on record loan defaults in the sub-prime mortgage sector. |
| The write-off contributed to the firm posting a third quarter net loss of $2.3bn, its worst financial performance since 2001. | The write-off contributed to the firm posting a third quarter net loss of $2.3bn, its worst financial performance since 2001. |
| The real power in any investment bank rests with its fee-generators and top traders, rather than with its shareholders or even its board Robert PestonBBC Business Editor Read Robert Peston's blog | |
| Mr O'Neal admitted last week that errors had been made at the company. | Mr O'Neal admitted last week that errors had been made at the company. |
| "I'm not going to talk around the fact that there were some mistakes that were made," he said. | "I'm not going to talk around the fact that there were some mistakes that were made," he said. |
| The BBC's business ediotr, Robert Peston said Mr O'Neal was likely to pay the price for the firm's high-risk investment strategy which saw it repackage loans to US homeowners with poor credit histories into tradeable securities. | |
| The huge losses incurred by this move would hit the annual bonuses of Merrill's top traders, he added, eroding their support for the management. | |
| Slave background | |
| The 56-year-old became chief executive at the end of 2002 and was elected chairman several months later. | |
| He is the grandson of a former slave whose father moved his family from the cotton fields of Alabama to Georgia when he was young. | |
| Mr O'Neal began his career at General Motors which saw his ability and sent him to study at its Institute, where he gained a degree in industrial administration. | |
| He later graduated from Harvard with a degree in business administration. | |
| As one of the best-paid and most high-profile executives in the US, Mr O'Neal will be entitled to a multi-million dollar severance package if he does step down. |