Broadcort(R) Attracts New Clients, Affirms Growth Intent

JERSEY CITY, N.J., March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadcort, a clearing division of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, today announced it has expanded its clearing and execution business for institutional broker-dealers by attracting more than a dozen new clients in the second half of 2009, and six additional new clients already in 2010.

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"With our open architecture, robust third-party connectivity, high capacity and outstanding service culture, we believe we are setting a new standard in the institutional clearing space," said Michael Bird, head of Broadcort. "We would like to thank all of our clients who entrust their business to us every day."

Broadcort operates seamlessly with Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Execution Services platform, providing an end-to-end execution, clearing and trade processing solution that enables institutional broker dealers to focus energies on clients and front-end trading activities.  

Broadcort recently added senior client-facing professionals to help oversee its expanding client base.

"The growth opportunities for this business are tremendous, especially when leveraged with Bank of America Merrill Lynch's outstanding global sales and trading capabilities to help our clients achieve their goals," added Bird.

About Broadcort

As one of the leading providers of clearing and execution services to broker-dealers for more than 30 years, Broadcort delivers customized solutions and offers access to industry-leading technology.  Broadcort is a business unit within Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Global Execution Services Group — providing the financial strength and resources to support even the most complex business requirements. The Broadcort team works to help clients succeed by developing flexible, integrated solutions that cover the full range of clearing, execution, financing, and operational requirements.  Bank of America Merrill Lynch is a leading global provider of equity and options trading, sales and research services to mutual funds, hedge funds, broker-dealers, pensions, endowments and other institutions, and is a member of more than 80 exchanges worldwide.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company's corporate and investment banking, and sales and trading businesses operate under the Bank of America Merrill Lynch brand.  Bank of America Merrill Lynch focuses on middle-market and large corporations, institutional investors, financial institutions and government entities. It provides innovative services in M&A, equity and debt capital raising, lending, trading, risk management, research, and liquidity and payments management.  Bank of America Merrill Lynch serves clients in more than 150 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and nearly 96 percent of the Fortune Global 500.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the marketing name for the global banking and global markets businesses of Bank of America Corporation.  Lending, derivatives, and other commercial banking activities are performed globally by banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation, including Bank of America, N.A., member FDIC.  Securities, strategic advisory, and other investment banking activities are performed globally by investment banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation ("Investment Banking Affiliates"), including, in the United States, Banc of America Securities LLC and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, which are both registered broker-dealers and members of FINRA and SIPC, and, in other jurisdictions, locally registered entities.  Investment products offered by Investment Banking Affiliates:  Are Not FDIC Insured * May Lose Value * Are Not Bank Guaranteed.

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SOURCE Bank of America Merrill Lynch