i know several people that went to ubs got about 1.625 upront with another on the 100% backend.  i heard their deals were going down though,  but i guess not if ML still is negotiating in that range.  My take is that guys from merrill i think are leaving because of the merger with bank of american and the significant cultural differences.  not to mention potential nationalization headlines.

I went from MS to a regional to indy a few years ago. Payout at 80% with about 5k overhead. I keep my overhead low by sharing office space with another indy and have never been happier.  PM me if you want the details.