Company: Merrill Lynch & Co Inc

The Securities and Exchange Commission has changed the language it will use in settlement agreements, eliminating the familiar "neither admit nor deny" that has shielded many a firm from civil lawsuits. But the change will only apply to defendants whose guilt has already been established in a criminal proceeding, where a higher standard of proof is required than in civil courts.   Read More

Watching Europe's bank teeter on the brink of disaster because of their exposures to sovereign debt has an eerily familiar feel to it.    Read More

The habitual secrecy of banks is understandable. Banks almost never want you to understand where they have invested your money. They reveal their quarterly results through glasses tinted so dimly that no one on earth can understand what risks they face, what assets they own, or how they make money.   Read More

It's not a bank run yet, but tons of clients have been calling Merrill Lynch private financial advisers asking if their money is safe, according to Investment News.    Read More