In the past 36 months or thereabouts, Merrill Lynch has made 33 acquisitions or new partnerships. It may be more by the time The Banker hits the news stands. Merrill has moved to or bolstered its presence in places such as Turkey, India and South Korea, continues to build its commodities and energy platforms, and to bulk up its debt capital markets capabilities.
In Merrill’s global markets division, for example, the firm has added about 2600 people in the past two years (not counting the thousands added in the rebuild following the firm’s brutal staff cull in the early 2000s: by mid-2005 almost 3000 people had been added to the depleted investment bank’s ranks).
