New Merrill CEO sees more mortgage, CDO pressure

NEW YORK (Reuters) - John Thain, the new chairman and chief executive of Merrill Lynch & Co MER.N, on Wednesday said prices for subprime mortgages and collateralized debt obligations will likely deteriorate further in the next three-to-six months, potentially necessitating further write-downs in the industry.

In an interview on CNBC television, Thain said he is not inclined to quit the mortgage and CDO markets, but that Merrill Lynch needs to properly manage its risk exposures. He said further write-downs in the industry are possible because of pricing pressures.

Thain will join Merrill Lynch on December 1 from NYSE Euronext (NYX.PA) (NYX.N), where he is chief executive. At Merrill Lynch, he will replace Stanley O'Neal, who was ousted two weeks ago following a larger-than-expected $8.4 billion write-down.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)