Company: Merrill Lynch & Co Inc

The staff poaching and counter-poaching between UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch that has enthralled London's financial community reached new heights on Wednesday when 17-year UBS veteran Alex Wilmot-Sitwell defected to the US bank.

Wall Street firms are worrying that provisions in the newly passed Jobs Act will compromise the independence of their research and leave them open to investor lawsuits.

Bank of America's Merrill Lynch has launched a more aggressive recruiting campaign for top-tier brokers, including a bonus paid for transferring client assets after six months at the firm, two sources familiar with the new plan said Tuesday.

Blankfein, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, is stepping onto a prominent and politically charged stage, the New York Times reports.

Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, has informed U.S. regulators that it is willing to draw back from some parts of the country if its financial problems worsen, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the situation.