Personal Injury Law

The End of Wall Street

By Rod Heggy

The demise of Bear Stearns and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, followed by the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, heralds the final end of the Wall Street business model.

B of A?s CEO claims that for seven years he predicted the commercial banks would end up owning the investment banks. Merrill?s CEO claims that this would be great for Merrill?s 16,000 registered representatives because they will have access to B of A?s customer base.

However, the bank owned model of broker dealers and the Wall Street model have been radically different. The banks have never been as tolerant of risk nor as tolerant as salesmanship. As a result, the banks have had a narrower range of products.

Merrill Lynch training and compliance has always been enviable in the industry. But, neither will be as necessary in the new world where banks dampen the sharp edges more than regulators. Banks like to charge fees and so many of the free services with which Merrill Lynch built its book of business will no longer be free. Banks like the wealthy and have very little to offer the non-wealthy (currently defined as someone with less than $500,000 of investable assets). Retail broker dealers liked everyone. It is interesting to see which business model failed.

Full post as published by Terra Extraneus on September 15, 2008 (boomark / email).