On Wednesday April 16th ,2008, Mr. Salaheddine MEZOUAR, Minister of Economy and Finance, held at the headquarters of the Ministry a meeting with Mr. Brian C. Mck Henderson, Chief Executive Officer of Merrill Lynch Bank, who was accompanied by his close collaborators. To mark this event, officials at this bank expressed their interest in setting a productive collaboration with the Kingdom of Morocco.
Founded in 1914, Merrill Lynch is one of the U.S leading investment banks with $US 1.8 million in floating assets. The bank employs more than 64000 people in almost 1000 offices in 40 countries. This organization has a strong presence in Europe, America, Australia, the Middle and the Far East.
Merrill Lynch is one of the most hit banks by the subprime crisis which prompted the resignation of its CEO in November 2007.
Merrill Lynch Relations with Morocco:
1- Merrill Lynch participated as a co-leader with F.F 25 million towards bond loan of F.F 1.5 billion contracted by Morocco in 1996 with the guarantee of the AFD.
2- Merrill Lynch participated as a co-leader with Euro 1.5 million towards the Euro-bond issue of Euro 138.7 contracted by Morocco in 1999 with the guarantee of the AFD.
3- Jointly with BNP Paribas, Merrill Lynch participated as a leader in the inaugural bond issuing of Euro 400 million contracted in July 2003.
4- Merrill Lynch was selected together with BNP Paribas and BCM to undertake tasks of evaluation, consulting and stock market investment of the capital share of "Itissalat Almaghrib".