Bonus Watch '09: BAC

1

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 5:35PM

First!!!!

2

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 5:35PM

what did folks in research get?

3

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 5:40PM

Bonus day today, if you can call it that. Glad to see that a top-5 MBA entitles one to hourly pay that is one-third of the average GM-worker (need I mention that both BofA and GM received gov't aid?). You know it's bad when your company has to hire extra security for comp day -- unbelievable. Good news: associates got all cash. Bad news: that means $0 - $50k, and there's no jobs for all the job-seekers (which of course, would be everyone at BofA and MER).

4

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 5:40PM

Down 80%

Dang Big 4/Law Firms are making more

Bottle-service is dead

Price of 3-Series BMWs, 1Br COndos, and hookers are toast

5

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 5:40PM

Down 80%

Dang Big 4/Law Firms are making more

Bottle-service is dead

Price of 3-Series BMWs, 1Br COndos, and hookers are toast

6

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 5:43PM

1 Oak, Tenjune, Cain, and Butter will all soon be filing for bankruptcy protection.

7

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 5:46PM

Hate to be hating....

But with zero IPOs, M&A down 85+%, Lev Fin down 101%, S&P down 45%, FICC nuked....what are folks getting paid for....pitching?

Seems like steak knives is generous

-MD

8

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 5:47PM

hehe . looks like I am in the market for luxury goods!

Any bankers want to shine my shoes?

9

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 5:48PM

WARRIORS COME OUT AND PLAY!

10

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 5:51PM

What did analysts get?

11

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 5:52PM

The 100% cash bonus/severance of '07 plus 1 yr off to bang hot 20 something pussy is the real bonus...

Sorry you gave up last 2yrs for.. -100% equity '07/-50% cash 07,-80% cash '08

12

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 5:55PM

1 Oak, Tenjune, Cain, and Butter is flabby armed ann taylor-bot central

hit LES for East Euro models at half off in age and $

13

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 6:03PM

Just the base, just for a second.

14

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 6:09PM

All you legal bitches Sidley is a whacking associates. "Accelerated outplacement" has such a lovely ring. K.O. that partner dream in the center of the ring. Next 30 years married in associateville fraud and a phony reminded by that ring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0daTVnJmt8

SPODE

15

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 6:10PM

Brokers don't get a bonus. Brokers eat what they kill. They're manly men (and women ) who dgaf about the annual bonus bend-over.

16

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 6:22PM

All your base are belong to us.

17

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 6:32PM

@2 research got severance

18

Posted by trojan , Jan 30, 2009 6:40PM

well im going to law school now

19

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 7:02PM

Not trying to be facetious, but does is BAC a leader in any area in capital markets?

20

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 7:11PM

yes, #1 or 2 in leveraged finance (including HY bonds, leveraged loans, etc).

21

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 7:21PM

In equity derivatives, where we had a record year, bonus is down 90%. They used a formula based on your base and last year bonus no matter what you did this year. Thanks Lewis, mother fucker

22

Posted by Bulging Bracket , Jan 30, 2009 7:28PM

I'm sure anyone who did well this year knows it, but if you put up numbers this year, move! Start a fund ("I was up in '08" is the new "I called Black Monday") or join a fund. BAC is death as you've noticed!

23

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 7:40PM

I hope Lewis goes to jail.

24

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 7:44PM

Can t believe bank of america is run by so much idiots!

25

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 8:05PM

Interested to hear how those few people remaining in research made out. I know they got screwed last year so down 90% from that is well, nothing

26

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 8:08PM

BOA = Septic Tank of America

Ken Lewis = King of the Turds

27

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 8:13PM

@25, please review some 8th grade grammar before calling other people idiots

28

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 8:13PM

I feel bad for the BOA guys who put in the hard work, made money for the firm, and then got nothing. Middle America will be upset with this whole bonus thing, but the BOA soldiers can't help it that their CEO basically bought a pile of shit. Two piles of shit.

Has anyone noticed this BAC/MER Kenny/Thain thing this week really took the heat off and focus off of Citi? What are they going to do with bonuses over there, along with all the fat guarantees they allegedly paid out earlier this year? Reneg?

29

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 8:15PM

180% of goal. $40k. Principal.

30

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 9:16PM

One Bryant Park motto: If it is yellow, let it mellow (for a week or two).

31

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 9:18PM

Remember how Kenny wanted to pay up for ML so he wouldn't be buying a "tarnished brand"? He said on 60 minutes that he was ahead of his time. What a turkey. Thanks to his superior skills at buying companies and seamlessly integrating them into a coherent whole, Bank of America Merrill Lynch is now the latest HBS case study: "An Idiot's Guide on How to Destroy a Company, Shareholder Value and Employee Morale in Less Than Four Months." Company has a big red bull's eye on it for the next few years. Good luck extracting any bonuses in 2009 or 2010 or ..... 2013 when TARP money is to be repaid.

Those who got fired are lucky. The rest of us are screwed. Actually, the rest of us will leave this titanic as soon as possible. Anyone have a life vest?

32

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 9:20PM

Bac just sent emails around blocking access to blogs and websites such as facebook myspace twitted and linkedin.

Probably in response to the entire company being on dealbreaker all the time.

33

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 9:38PM

I've said it once, I'll say it again:

John Thain for CEO of the year - seriously - who on the street did better for shareholders and employees? he fucking rocks - he deserves a 36k shitter.

34

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 10:04PM

@32 That is really the hilarious irony of this entire thing. He said he didn't want a tarnished brand, so by "saving" the Merrill brand he has tarnished the entire BAC brand.

I completely understand the angst about "bonuses" given in a fucked up firm but the bottom line is that there is not a single person in BAC who wants to be there anymore. Anyone who can leave, will leave. Given the state of the market, that is not going to happen overnight. It's is going to be a slow, steady trickle of talent out of that place for the entire year. They are fortunate in that they may be able to lure in some desperate unemployed people. However, in the long run, who wants to work for such a shit show?

35

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 10:05PM

@34, you dumb fuck, for the 90th time, a commode on legs ain't a shitter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commode

36

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 10:10PM

Anything >= 50K meant ALL cash and equity deferred and vests over 3 years.

Anyone who actually got "paid" has to stay for 3 years or be let go to get paid.

Every single top employee now wants to be let go.

37

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 10:12PM

If it wasn't for this disaster MER purchase, would BOA have fared much better? I mean, besides leveraged finance as 21 mentioned, were they good and crushing it in anything else in capital markets? Equities? Rates? Mortgages? Forex? Anything? Prime brokerage?

38

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 10:38PM

@ 22

I'm sorry bro. I know first hand what derivatives (ex converts) made. I'm glad I no longer work there.

@ 29

Me too. I understand the whole "firm is bigger than the group/individual" thing, but at the same time bofa isn't that old-school kind of place. Some businesses/groups killed it this year. While they don't deserve large raises in light of everything, they deserve better than the ass fucking they got.

@ 30

See @ 22. Overall equities (including the bullshit converts losses thanks to short sale ban) was > 180% of goal and they're basically all fucked with bonuses and fired.

Do yourselves a favor if you're still at bofa and leave. Easier said than done, maybe have to wait for mkt to turn, but as soon as you've got the chance: jump to somewhere else.

Ken, if you're reading please do everyone a favor and kill yourself. Thanks.

39

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 10:43PM

@38 Glad you're clueless. Prime brokerage sold in September (deal struck in Q1) to BNP Paribas. Next time you're waiting for the path train back to hoboken, jump in front of it as it approaches the station.

40

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 10:53PM

@38, after the death of 3 big ibanks, any remaining banks are in the Top 10 category...but no, you're right, BofA is not very strong outside of debt, but REIB and Healthcare Ibanking are pockets of strength...

After this shitshow, I would imagine everyone who is able to leave, will leave...I am hoping they start the Associates/Analysts lay off round soon so I can get my severance pay and not come to work anymore...time to plan for the future, luckily I'm a promote so I didn't burn money on an MBA to become an Associate...

41

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 10:55PM

The answer is firekenlewis.com

42

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 11:18PM

how can Ken Lewis expect this company to work for the next year when two guys sitting next to each other had such huge pay differences. The Merrill guy on the left got no clawback and was down 7 or 40% (depending on the newssource) while the BAC guy on the right has a 3 year clawback and was down 90%! is that what he calls expert merger integration?

Cheers B1tches & Best to the BAC guys,
Tanned Banker

43

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 11:30PM

Fag Bruce T doesn't give a sh*t about anyone but himself, will drive this thing into the ground, will laugh as this thing tanks like Monica going down on Clinton!

44

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 11:32PM

hahaha, looks like BofA Compliance decided to block blogs, like a typical tyrant, Ken Lewis cannot tolerate any dissent from his ranks...

45

Posted by guest , Jan 30, 2009 11:42PM

what bank/broker allowed access to fb after 2005?
aren't they kind of late on blocking fb?

Cheers again b1tches,
Tanned Banker

46

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 12:09AM

@44, you mean Bruce Thompson? That guy is next to fall, he'll get blamed next by Ken and will have to go, like all predecessors...Tom White, Bill White, et al...

47

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 12:17AM

90% down - even after BOA sold PB and the equity biz still carried 10% of Amerillwide's overall income for the yr. good luck to merrill and 3 BOA's who wait it out to next year.

48

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 12:43AM

While John Thain is among the more despicable people to emerge from the calamity of the last 18 mos., I do have to give him credit for selling a company in October that was literally worth $0/share (and less now-- though not theoretically possible) for $29/share. No collar on the deal! A final stroke of genius. As a former employee of both firms, they deserve each other. Soft nationalization has already occurred and the final moves will come in next week. Only strategy is to force attrition of 75% of remaining inv bankers and sales/trading and keep as many brokers' assets around as possible. To state the obvious, Lewis (assuming he's calling the shots and not McKinsey-- which by they way is complicit with O'Neal in MER's destruction), couldn't care less if BofA actually does anything but loan/bond underwriting.

49

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 12:43AM

While John Thain is among the more despicable people to emerge from the calamity of the last 18 mos., I do have to give him credit for selling a company in October that was literally worth $0/share (and less now-- though not theoretically possible) for $29/share. No collar on the deal! A final stroke of genius. They deserve each other. Soft nationalization has already occurred and the final moves will come in next week. Only strategy is to force attrition of 75% of remaining inv bankers and sales/trading and keep as many brokers' assets around as possible. To state the obvious, Lewis (assuming he's calling the shots and not McKinsey-- which by they way is complicit with O'Neal in MER's destruction), couldn't care less if BofA actually does anything but loan/bond underwriting.

50

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 1:00AM

FUBAR

51

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 1:01AM

FUBAR for sure

52

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 1:10AM

BofA Associate: The only thing I have to say FUBAR

53

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 1:10AM

BofA Associate: The only thing I have to say FUBAR

54

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 1:11AM

FUBAR

55

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 1:14AM

@41
A BoA analyst promoted to Associate - trust me, shit like you don't get into H/S/W...I have a good idea what kind of crap would be a BoA analyst for 3 years with no exit except a 4th year at BoA!!! Merrill Senior Associate here. Looking forward to pissing on you, scum. Crap bankers (that would be BoA career-ists like you) are unable to get any exit strategy in this market so your strategy better be to kiss my ASS!!! Of course I did get YET ANOTHER job offer today so maybe you won't have to kiss my tier 1 MBA ass after all!!! Oh, and don't worry, I only got paid 7x more than you, too.

56

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 1:24AM

boa associate, did good with overtime but bonus down 85%. worked my ass off for countrywide migration (ops person) and now merrill. i walked out today.

57

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 1:57AM

@57, better take that yet another job offer, your industry is blowing up, and Uncle Ken will slash your pay next year...

58

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 3:34AM

Thankfully, there are finally some sensible comments on this blog: @22, 24, 25, 27, 39 I couldn’t agree with you more. If I saw KL I would happily walk across the road to punch him on the nose – what a power-hungry, egotistical, moron. Also, @32, 35, and 43, hopefully you are correct – I dearly hope KL suffers the consequences of his stupidity….Unfortunately, he has dramatically impacted the livelihoods of many people who worked hard to add value for the BofA shareholders without thinking about the consequences, destroyed value for his shareholders, and probably spent billions of dollars buying a company full of employees that don’t want to work for him.

To those of you joining from MER who like to gloat I say this: Congratulations, you certainly got the better deal. However, please remember you are now a BofA employee, so the going may not be so great going forward. The rot at BofA goes deeper than KL – after all, he has the board of directors in his pocket, and it breaches one of the primary checks and balances to allow the CEO onto the board – why do the large shareholders allow this? With regards to the comments regarding your ex-CEO I honestly don’t understand what all the fuss is about with John Thain’s office – sure it may have been a bit over-the-top, but how does it compare against spending billions of dollars on a company that is insolvent? John Thain looked after not only his shareholders, but also you his employees. Unfortunately for us all he is not longer around.

What should a CEO bring to the table, and how does KL compare?

1. Does he have a coherent strategic vision of the future of the company? How can one “have enough of investment banking” one month, and then several months later decide it is wise to take over an investment bank (being the biggest bank in the world is not a strategy KL).

2. Does he communicate the strategic vision effectively to the media and investors? KL is so inept I am surprised he ever got appointed as CEO. In the joint media conference discussing the merger/takeover it was clear that Thain was far more accomplished in just about every aspect of banking and finance as well as managing the media.

3. Has he added value for the stakeholders in the firm? Not only has he lost the shareholders 80%+ over the last months, but he doesn’t give a shit about his employees (has he even mentioned us in a media release in the last 2 years)? That is no way to run a business.

4. Does he allocate retained earnings sensibly? How can KL offer to purchase a company that is insolvent, and yet not have the balls to insist that the target does not pay its employees’ bonuses prior to the takeover (after all, if he didn’t have the negotiating power then I hate to think how much value he left on the table in the other deals he undertook)?

BofA prided itself in the past for “paying for performance”. I hope to hell you get the performance going forward that you pay for (my group has earned you an average of over $5M per person per year for the last few years and have never lost you money). By repaying us with a bonus like you gave us this year you deserve to rot in hell KL!!!

59

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 9:22AM

25k for VP

60

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 9:39AM

BAC's retail bank has massive earnings power. Ken Lewis took that earnings power and spent it on a fraud (countrywide) and an investment bank worth $0 given the economy & market. Going to the government for second round means you're insolvent. So how does Lewis keep his job? Oh, i forgot to mention that by KL making Thain the fall guy for the ML bonuses, Congress is going to legislate away bonuses. BAC will pay their branch managers better than they pay their mds

61

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 9:58AM

This is all very sad. Many of us compete against BOA and I must admit, most of us didn't think much of them as far top-tier competition goes.

But nobody deserves this. It almost seems worse than it must have been going bankrupt at LEH. And certainly worse than getting laid off.

62

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 10:06AM

Isn't Jack Bauer all about helping and saving the victims? I keep hearing his voice on all of the BofA commercials. Please Jack....stop it now! Stop supporting the place that has ruined the lives of thousands, if not millions, of people. Clop their asses out...in 24 hours please! And get Tony & Chloe to help you.

63

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 12:20PM

47 = that's the one - either Lewis gets him or he meets the same demise as Niedermayer of Animal House fame - come to think of it he looks like him too!

64

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 12:20PM

Tony is bad dude. He needs Chloe and Morris. Maybe that hot piece of ass Nadia too.

65

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 1:43PM

@57 Shut up you pussy. Just like all of the Ivy pussies on the site. When someone gets in your face you crumble, just like you did when you got beat up by girls in 6th grade.

For disclosure I was born rich. I have no MBA, won't ever need one and went to a state school. No one in my family has had to work since the 1950s, so blah blah blah about how smart you are.

66

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 2:17PM

@57 Wow big hot air from a Merrill associate...now if those words came from a Goldman I-banker then I can understand..but from a pedestrian Merrill banker..give us a break..

67

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 2:20PM

@57, just because you got burned this year and you're knee deep in MBA debt doesn't mean you have to take your anger out on us; take your offer at Northtrust bank or kiss Uncle Ken's ass, remember, you work for his NC State alum ass now sucker...

68

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 2:25PM

@65, he won't last one year, by this time in 2010, he'd be gone, pushed into some other group or "retired"...like Tom White or Bill White...

Brian Moynihan won't last long either, Gene Taylor, Al De Molina, Carter McClellan, Jon Sandelmann, et al, they all got fired within 1-1.5 years...

69

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 2:34PM

I thought Tony was back to being a good guy and is now working undercover to save the world? Can Jack &
Tony fix the toilets at OBP? We'll let them refi their mortgages since BofA won't even let their own employees. And can Chloe break into the system and unblock the social networking & blogging websites?

70

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 2:40PM

I don't think Obama was complaining about comp when his wife was bringing home 350k. I wonder how many hours she worked a week.

71

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 2:49PM

ouch, have fun working tons this year, not having a personal life and not making jack...banking is officially done. what a pain in the @ss senior bankers are anyways...who needs to work for them

72

Posted by Gordon Ghetto , Jan 31, 2009 3:03PM

@67- Sounds like someone could have used a few more character building summers of menial labor. What is the point of being "born rich" if you still have a chip on your shoulder about where you went to college?

73

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 3:48PM

9K for first year associate

74

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 3:51PM

I would love to use knuckle buster on KL's face.

75

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 3:52PM

I would love to use knuckle buster on KL's face. Where are you hiding mother fucking asshole?

76

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 4:20PM

now this is the bonus structure Merrill should have followed! seriously, the "peasants w/ pitchforks" crowd, some of whom funded the bailout, would probably have been OK with Merrill paying out dick as did BofA... that shadenfreude would've tased mmm-mmm, good! did Thain even consult his PR people b4 dolin' out $4B of tax-payer subsidized boni? why didn't he just take care of star MDs (and *maybe* some SVP/EDs), as we all know VPs and below have no leverage to demand a bonus right now (considering that they don't bring in rev and are just minion execution-bots at this stage)?

boy, Thain sure went to bat for his boys.... with nothing for himself, save for a radioactive rep and showdown with "Capo Cuomo"

77

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 4:47PM

Cuomo is gonna git dem Merrill bonuses back...

78

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 5:19PM

@70 - he'll make a lot of noise, but it won't happen. what will happen is a cap on bonuses for the next few years. nyc is in serious trouble!

79

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 5:21PM

VP at 60k, all deferred. Associate at 45k, gets in all now. WTF?????????

80

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 6:28PM

Do you Quant-nerds and Anal-ists really believe, you are entitled to 7digit figures every year? You played with the houses' money, created yourself a free call option, stuffing endless investors with leverage and product they had not clou about, overcharging them in the process -like a used car dealer- and you believe you have contributed to society and "deserve" a monster bonus to blow it in the Hamptons and on trophy bitches? And those analyst of you, who do nothing but straight-line the herd expectations laudable exception: Whitman)and then downgrade, when the subject is down by 80%, with 85% of money managers under-performing the market, do you really believe you should earn even 150k? There are millions of people that perform their work properly and to expectations and what do they get, a handshake from the boss? A Christmas - pardon me - Hanukka Party? And just because your numbers of SHAREHOLDER capital and borrowed money and customer deposits which you gamble with are a bit larger you believe that you are owed a piece of the action? Your common ineptness has done more harm to the financial world than anything since humankind, evaporating trillions of hard earned (savings, 401k) money while you where gulping down Martinis in the Hamptons. Gitmo appears more appropriate than a bonus, or so it appears.

81

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 7:22PM

Ken,

Please step out into traffic!

Regards,

Your employees

82

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 7:56PM

2nd year BAC Associate: survived 5 rounds of lay-offs, was ranked meet/exceed (that's second bucket for those not in the know) - Bonus $0. Average calculated 2008 per hour pay $2.50

83

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 8:29PM

@84

52 weeks * 80 (umm, yeah!) hours * $2.5 = $10,400

umm, right?

84

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 8:38PM

@57 - Just a few friendly words of advice.

1.) There is no such thing as a "Senior Associate". If you need to clarify that you are not an Associate who is less than 1.5 years out of b-school, but rather between 1.5 and 3.5 years out, you are an insecure d-bag. Based on your post, we know that you are one, but removing the "Senior" from your title will allow you to hide this fact for longer in future interactions.

2.) The only people who use three exclamation points after every sentence are vapid high schoolers posting about their favorite American Idol contestant...and you. I suspected from the bitter tone of your post that you didn't go to "H/S/W" and the 3 exclamation points after every sentence confirmed it.

3.) Although you are obviously in very high demand and I'm sure will have options no matter when you want to jump ship, now is the time. Working for Ken and his inbred BOD ensures that, ironically enough, you'll never be paid as much as you were the year your excellent firm should have gone bankrupt.

85

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 9:24PM

Hey Ken - planning to reschedule that town hall meeting anytime soon? Fuck head.

86

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 9:24PM

Hey Ken - planning to reschedule that town hall meeting anytime soon? .

87

Posted by Gordon Ghetto , Jan 31, 2009 9:35PM

Many of you at the former Merrill are about to be introduced to a key tenet of Southern culture: that an employee is less of a man than an entrepreneur, and should be paid accordingly. Ken Lewis, despite being an employee of BAC himself, has obviously picked this up, as shown by his bragging about not paying lawyers more than $100 K. Welcome to the plantation.

88

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 10:03PM

I don't fault people for complaining, but see the bonus numbers for what they were - an announcement by BofA that they do in fact want to get out of investment banking. "But why buy merrill lynch then?" you ask? For the brokers, period. The leadership has deemed the traditional IB business too volatile and too risky, and they want to be in it in only as much as necessary (which is very little).

Seen this way the almost zero bonuses make sense - see who leaves and who stays. You can continue to pay the people who stay as little as you did this year (b/c obviously they would have left if they could have) to manage deals that come in through the balance sheet business - HY, syndications, some derivatives, etc. - and provide a cursory level of client coverage and support for the product people.

89

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 10:29PM

I got shit for saying it at the time on DB when this marriage made in heaven was announced but tell me again how the combined BoA/ML entity will dominate the street? This merger is a cluster fuck because of the culture clash and 1+1 = .8 in this case.

"Prove me wrong, kids. Prove me wrong." - Principal Seymour Skinner

- Fixed Income

90

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 11:45PM

9k, salary increase freeze, 2nd year technology associate with computational finance MS. Better then being laid off, well maybe not, but no where near a reasonable portion of the 700 mm the business group I support made espically considering how dependant they are on my spread sheets. Pay for performance my ass. Where is my incentive?

91

Posted by guest , Jan 31, 2009 11:48PM

Got a letter of indication in June. Excited to get my fedex on Monday to see how close they got...

92

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 1:12AM

Spent two years as an analyst on a sales desk. Promoted to associate.

Consistently exceeds/exceeds.

$0

93

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 1:16AM

94 again. To be clear, that was my stub.

No pay increase.

94

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 1:43AM

I think all 0's are on the lay off list coming in Feb...makes sense I guess, but kinda awkward for the remaining 2 or 3 weeks, definitely not working and MD is too embarassed to ask those who made 0's to work...

95

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 7:46AM

The combination of these two companies could not be going worse. First they knowingly let the MER people get somewhat paid. Then they pay their own BAC people basically nothing. In doing so, now all BAC people despise the MER people. And all the MER people are completely demotivated after seeing how Bank of America takes care of their own.

Total sht sandwhich.

I think a private equity firm should come and take the Merrill global equity franchise private.

96

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 9:53AM

@97 You couldn't be more right. This merger will not work and sorry to the rest of the taxpayers, because I will try to make this company and my team fail and I'm sure i'm not the only one thinking like this.

Obama you got ur wish of no bonuses, hope that worksout for u

97

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 11:10AM

Principal $90k deferred over 3 years which is down 75% from prior years at other firms (new to BAS this year). Most others in my department at all levels got $0. Based on that, I agree the $0s are on lay off list even though management claims no such list exists yet. I call BS - who makes pay and retention decisions separately?

I've never earned even close to 7 figures but I haven't earned this little since 1989 when I was a few years out of B-school. $160k in NYC is nothing to raise a family on. We have no second home, modest apartment, no fancy car, 2 kids, one in college one in private school. If this happens another year, we sell the house, move to public school, grow food in the back yard and I don't know what else. Not looking for pity, but folks off wall street should understand we are not all the obnoxious frat boys with oversized egos and sense of entitlement one might see on this blog or the greedy bastards you hear about in the media. Happy to take one for the team this year - I'd even take zero - if I thought there was any hope of return to normal at BAC. Long time employees remind me they have an excuse every year for not paying.

Resume is out and I will leave as soon as I can.

Who's going to earn the revenues to repay the TARP money?

98

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 11:11AM

Last year, I made tens of millions in prop and got a bit more than 50K in bonus. This year, I stopped to take any prop position and the more junior people understand also that they have no upside. My next step now is to be let go.

99

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 11:19AM

@99 For information, my group has grown the business every year since I started at BAC. Every single year, the bonus pool for my team has decreased to be finally close to zero this year.

100

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 11:26AM

people at merrill who generated revenues the last few years are putting up their hands to get fired. they'll take the severance and go work at a good hedge funds or boutiques that pay cash not restricted stock and don't have government oversight. the populist morons like cuomo will guarantee that most good revenue producers get out of the companies that the govt bailed out and guarantee that taxpayers lose all of their bailout money.

101

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 11:45AM

@84, yeah, um... get a new job.

102

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 11:47AM

Merrill is taking over my biz athought we are bigger and more profitable than them. People of my team got laid off, and thanks with a bonus closed to zero. If Ken thinks that we will explain them how we did things then he can stick his finger where the sun don t shine.

103

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 11:48AM

@92, your incentive is you have a job, you dumb fuck. And if BOA is really so "dependent on your spreadsheets" for their massive 700mm in revenues, God help us all...

104

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 11:52AM

@105, you're the dumb fuck. Many quant groups do depend on models that is built and maintained often by just one key person...obviously you have no clue sitting in your check processing group cubicle

105

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 11:58AM

@105 You are right, the incentive is to keep a job. Problem is that this works only for junior people as you know. Productive employees, and more senior Staff will be able to get much more anywhere even in companies where the government did put its nose. With such a drop in the bonus and inequality of treatment between Merrill and Bofa people, at this point changing company became personnal issue.

106

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 11:59AM

@102

Taxpayers losing all of their bailout money doesn't need Cuomo's help. Douchebags like Ken Lewis and you will make sure they suffer the loss. This is because throwing good money after bad money guarantees disaster.

107

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 12:36PM

You are insolvent. Stop crying about KL. All of you are about to be AiG'd. And this time your govt boss will not listen to retaining talent with bonuses. The people at AiG laugh at your prospects. Redslips are coming in the thousands.

Laughing Short

108

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 12:49PM

@93 - hear you, bro. Post back tomorrow...

109

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 12:55PM

@109 You are right. They will get what they will pay for. Civil servants who will loose billions of dollars, because they will not care about profitability and effiviency. If you need a proof, look at how the bankrupcy of lehman has been handled.

110

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 12:57PM

@109...there really isn't much of a difference anymore, Uncle Kenny treats his people like shit, better to be nationalized than continue to work for that clown. Can you say EPIC FAIL?

111

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 2:25PM

I feel bad for groups that made money and got zeroes, but I don't think you have any grounds for complaint. BofA is insolvent and despite your best efforts, nothing you did stopped Lewis from his own retardedness. Just be happy that you'll be getting paid for a few more weeks and that you'll be free from there soon.

112

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 2:31PM

I suggested to people I know who have an account at Bofa to close it. Don t want to give them free funding. I know that is not much, but if we are many, that can have an impact!

113

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 5:35PM

@114

LOL...I decided to never open an account. I still use VP's Citi that never sleeps.

114

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 5:47PM

This proves that anyone who goes to Georgia State University or any university with the word "state" will end up being a retard.

115

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 10:46PM

Let's see. I'm in credit risk for cib. have yet to find out my numbers. however, the desk i cover rolled zeros for the year. can't wait to see how they stick it to us back office folks tomorrow AM. should be sweet as pie. maybe i'll get enough to buy a cutty sark at phil's tavern with mgmt.

116

Posted by guest , Feb 01, 2009 11:08PM

102 I doubt that any good hedge funds - the ones that are left - want people from ML.

117

Posted by guest , Feb 02, 2009 12:12AM

To all the friends I've made at bofa over the last few years, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry to those who were fired. Especially to those that made money. Doubly to those who have been there for a few years and have blood on their hands/lived through the in house carnage from last year. Its so shitty that the company proved there's absolutely no loyalty to their own. It makes me sick.

I'm sorry to those who remain. First, to those that got fucked with no bonus who aren't on the severance list and have no choice but to stay. And second, because, lets face it, bac ppl don't want to work with ML and vice versa.

(For the record, I'm ex back office.)

I would love to make an Alaskan Pipeline and give it to Ken. Fuck that retarded southern midget. I've seen him in founders hall, he's like 5'5". There's a reason you had to go to Georgia State you hillbilly. That chip on your shoulder became a boulder, and you tried to flex your muscles at the expense of the reputation of your firm, the personal lives of your employees, and the wealth of your shareholders. Rot in hell, asshole.

118

Posted by guest , Feb 02, 2009 10:22AM

hahhah, compliance missed this "blog"! Still available to all BofA employees!

119

Posted by guest , Feb 02, 2009 11:34AM

what did research get?

120

Posted by guest , Feb 02, 2009 1:18PM

word is that some first year research associates got a big fat $0 for their bonus.

121

Posted by guest , Feb 02, 2009 1:40PM

@67

Clearly not born rich enough. If you were, your folks would have bought you a job at a first-tier IB. No one who was actually born rich has to slump through 3+ years at BOA. Good thing your folks didn't waste money on anything more than a state school for you (oh yeah, TONS of rich people send their kids to state school). Dude, one of these days you'll learn that being "penny millionaires" like your family does not = rich.

122

Posted by guest , Feb 02, 2009 3:48PM