http://emac.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2009/01/13/nasty-battles-behind-the-scenes-at-merrill-lynch/

Nasty fights are breaking out behind the scenes at Merrill Lynch and its new parent company, Bank of America (BAC). Defections are picking up speed, as top guns have quit at Merrill Lynch.

But company insiders say the reasons for the fights and the defections go beyond the obvious problems of office power plays, and of melding a freewheeling, backslapping brokerage culture with a staid, gun-metal grey retail bank environment.

And company insiders say they go beyond the fact that Merrill executives are now bristling at BofA’s potential pay cuts, and tighter bank controls on their brokerage operations.