About Merrill Lynch: Following the combination with Merrill Lynch, Bank of America has become: the largest brokerage in the world, with more than 20,000 advisors and $2.5 trillion in client assets; a leading provider of global corporate and investment banking services, including commercial lending, global high-yield debt, global equity and global M&A; a global leader in wealth management, private banking and retail brokerage; a global leader in investment management, with approximately 50 percent ownership in BlackRock, which has $1.4 trillion in assets under management, in addition to the $589 billion in assets under management with Bank of America as of June 30, 2008. (source: ML.com)