Merrill Lynch Hires Michael Nierenberg as Global Head of Mortgages and Securitized...

Merrill Lynch Hires Michael Nierenberg as Global Head of Mortgages and Securitized Products and James De Mare to Run Mortgage Trading

NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER) today announced that Michael
Nierenberg from JP Morgan will be joining the firm to head global
mortgages and securitized products businesses, and that James De Mare
from Citigroup will also be joining to run the company's mortgage
trading operations.

Mr. Nierenberg will report directly to Thomas K. Montag, head of
global sales and trading, and Mr. De Mare will report to Mr.
Nierenberg.

"I am very pleased that both Mike Nierenberg and Jim De Mare have
agreed to join Merrill Lynch," said Mr. Montag. "Both Mike and Jim are
among the most highly skilled and knowledgeable people in the mortgage
business."

Mr. Nierenberg was most recently JP Morgan's head of global
securitized products, a position he held after moving to that firm
following its purchase of Bear Stearns earlier this year. Mr.
Nierenberg joined Bear Stearns in 1994, moving quickly through the
ranks to hold positions such as head of interest rate and foreign
exchange trading operations, co-head of structured products and
co-head of mortgage-backed securities trading. Before Bear Stearns,
Mr. Nierenberg spent seven years at Lehman Brothers, where he was
instrumental in building up that firm's adjustable rate mortgage
business.

Mr. De Mare was with Citigroup for 11 years, having most recently
served as the global head of mortgage trading, which included the
trading of all securitized products in Citigroup's fixed income
currencies and commodities group. He joined Salomon Brothers in 1997
to run its adjustable rate trading business. Prior to joining Salomon
in 1997, Mr. De Mare traded agency and non-agency adjustable rate
mortgages at Bear Stearns and Prudential Securities.

Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading wealth management,
capital markets and advisory companies with offices in 40 countries
and territories and total client assets of approximately $1.6
trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and
underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of
asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations,
governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Merrill Lynch
owns approximately half of BlackRock, one of the world's largest
publicly traded investment management companies with $1.4 trillion in
assets under management at June 30, 2008. For more information on
Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.

Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
Media Relations:
Danielle Robinson, 212-449 0097
Danielle_robinson@ml.com
or
Investor Relations:
Sara Furber, 866-607-1234
Investor_Relations@ml.com

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