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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stox19 who wrote (58552)	1/9/2002 2:36:04 AM
From: StanX Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Ya, things are improving. ;0( 01/09 01:05 Merrill Lynch to Close 20 of Its 28 Retail Branches in Japan By Takahiko Hyuga quote.bloomberg.com Tokyo, Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co. will close 20 of its 28 retail brokerage branches in Japan in three months as President Stanley O'Neal moves to slash costs and boost profits. The biggest securities firm will fire 1,200, or 70 percent of its 1,700 staff, Nikkei English News reported, without citing sources. The company did not provide details on job cuts. Merrill, the only foreign broker with a retail branch network in Japan, joins rivals in scaling back after the Nikkei 225 index shed half its value since its four-year high of 20,833 in April 2000. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. closed a retail brokerage in Tokyo in November, while Societe Generale SA, ABN Amro Holdings NV and Dresdner Bank AG said they'll quit Japan equities. ``The continued slowing of economic and market conditions has accelerated the need to refocus (Merrill's retail business) for the current business environment,'' Kelly Martin, president of Merrill's International Private Client Group, said in a statement. The cutbacks will leave Merrill with a branch each in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Sendai, Sapporo, Kumamoto and Takamatsu. O'Neal's plan is centered on pulling back from the firm's least profitable businesses. Merrill sold its retail brokerage operations in Canada and Australia, eliminated more than 6,100 jobs in the first nine months of 2001 and had more than 2,600 employees take a buyout offered in October.