In the current market environment, not every bank chief executive feels relaxed talking to the press unless it is part of a public relations strategy to calm frayed nerves among investors. But Stan O’Neal, chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch, was happy to talk to The Banker’s editor Brian Caplen about the volatility in the markets and the firm’s longer-term strategic positioning as well as social issues arising from globalisation, such as inequality.
The Banker celebrated its 80th anniversary (1926-2006) at the Drapers Hall in London with a cake-cutting ceremony attended by (from left) Brian Caplen, editor; Stephen Timewell, editor-in-chief; and Michael Kirkwood, master of the Guild of International Bankers and managing director UK, Citigroup. The 80th anniversary celebrations included a keynote speech by Sir Peter Middleton, president of the British Bankers Association and senior warden of the Guild of International Bankers, which examined key events in UK financial history, and a seminar that included both an economics panel and a banking panel.