Merrill Lynch has banned the use of external hard-drives and other devices that could be used to take documents off its internal networks, a person familiar with the matter said. The company has been stung by suspicions of leaks after its stock moved wildly in the days leading up to its announcement of new write-downs and capital raising efforts.
We're also told that Merrill has circulated a memo to employees warning them against engaging in rumor mongering.
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 11:50AM
what's so shocking about a company guarding its intellectual property and telling its employees to act prudently in a volatile environment?
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 11:52AM
thumb drive ?
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 11:53AM
What's really retarded about Merrill is that they seem to block access to just about all blogs, even the ones that may contain market-breaking news. Way to stay behind the times, Merrill.
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 11:54AM
i bet this means no ipods!
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 12:02PM
Be bery quiet - we're hunting wabbits...
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 12:03PM
I once saw a rabbit put mayo on its own poop and eat it.
Posted by finance_baller , Jul 30, 2008 12:07PM
@12:03
Good thing you dont work at ML otherwise that information may have never come to light.
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 12:16PM
It's the employees that are causing this mess. They should ban the employees.
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 12:16PM
merrill telling its staff to avoid rumor mongering? hypocrisy or WTF guys. c'mmon, the only person engaging in rumor mongering is that CEO Thain who is spreading false rumors every two months about the financial health of the firm when in fact it is doomed like bear, and worse than lehman.
it'd be f*in' awesome if thain published and singed a memo to avoid engaging in rumor mongering.
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 12:33PM
My favorite, from the telco collapse days:
"Don't email when you can call, don't say words when you can nod."
Fear is no way to run a railroad, Thain.
-DK
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 12:33PM
Just email the stuff to your personal Hotmail box. Is that so hard?
Posted by Joe Weisenthal , Jul 30, 2008 12:39PM
Actually, from what we've heard, it is pretty tough, even to do something as fwding an email to yourself at some commercial provider. Merrill has all kinds of crazy controls in place, it seems, coupled with stiff penalties for violation.
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 12:39PM
@11: hard, no. Stupid, yes
Posted by Joseph di Jersey City , Jul 30, 2008 12:52PM
It's been the case at places (especially IBs) that I've worked at for USB ports, CD/DVD writing, and other obvious way of electronically transferring data off of the servers to be disabled. Yes, one could email documents out of the system but as #13 alluded to, then there is a very long lived record of it. Allowing working USB ports up until now seems pretty slack on MER's part.
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 1:04PM
@ 6
Did he like it?
Posted by Johnny , Jul 30, 2008 1:12PM
E-mailing sensitive information to outside e-mail?!?! That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.... (aside from Thain talking about the financial health of Merrill over the past several months).
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 1:14PM
#15. Yes he enjoyed very much. Ate his friends poop too!
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 1:42PM
Citipoop
Posted by Billy Ray Human , Jul 30, 2008 1:46PM
@14 Totally agree. What took MER so long?
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 2:46PM
# 17 - was there anything on his friend's poop?
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 2:51PM
So, why isn't anyone calling a low on MER? Come on, catch a falling knife. It only hurts once.
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 2:52PM
@1.42: ShittiPoop
I win
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 2:59PM
there's a lot of ignornat dummies on this blog.
MER is first and foremost a retail brokerage. always has been, always will.
this is right out of a playbook.
the translation of this "reminder" is:
"holy fuck! our brokers are getting poached and even though it's established that brokers have a right to all info concerning their clients, we'll try and scare with fancy legal gaga"
same shit happened with bear stearns in the days leading up to their execution by paulson and dimon.
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 3:00PM
Does this mean I can't steal the CDO model MER uses?
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 3:00PM
and i'm even more ignorant for not spellchecking!
lol
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 3:00PM
Does this mean I can't steal the CDO model MER uses?
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 3:04PM
i wonder which firms are going heavy after MER brokers??
retail firms are like working behind the iron curtain.
i guarantee if you work for MER you're getting 50 phone calls a day from recruiters and headhunters. lol
Posted by guest , Jul 30, 2008 3:04PM
@1.42: ShittiPoop
I win