John Thain kicked out of Merrill Lynch

John Thain, the former CEO of Merrill Lynch will step down from its position just days after the Wall Street firm reported a huge loss in the fourth quarter, hurt by the persistent turmoil in the financial markets. Thain met Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis in New York on Thursday. They mutually agreed that the situation was not working out, and that Thain would resign, said Bob Stickler, a spokesman for Bank of America. Thain was set to oversee Bank of America's investment banking and wealth management operations following its purchase by the banking giant in mid-September. "This is a change of leadership, not a change in the direction of the business," Stickler said. "We are very happy with how business has performed since the acquisition closed on January 1." Merrill lost US$15.3bn during the fourth quarter, forcing Bank of America to ask the US government for billions of dollars in extra support to close its acquisition of the brokerage firm.