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Merrill Lynch chief leaves firm ... Lynch has reported a net loss for 2007 after getting caught up in problems stemming from a slump in the US housing market.
The company said it had made a net loss of $7.8bn (Ј3.9bn) in the 12 months to the end of December.
It is the latest US and European bank to reveal losses related to investments linked to the US mortgage market.
Included in those results is a massive $14.1bn write-down on investments related to subprime mortgages.
It is the company's second quarterly loss in a row.
The previous chief executive, Stan O'Neal, stepped down in October because of the bank's poor performance.
New boss John Thain said: "While the firm's performance for the year is clearly unacceptable, over the last few weeks we have substantially strengthened the firm's liquidity and balance sheet."
Earlier this week, Citigroup and JP Morgan also announced write-downs because of their exposure to the sub-prime loan sector.
JP Morgan Chase said its earnings for the last three months of 2007 fell 34%. Net income was $2.97bn (Ј1.5bn) in the quarter to the end of December, down from $4.53bn a year earlier.
On Tuesday, Citigroup reported a $9.83bn net loss for the last three months of 2007 after having to cut the value of its investments by $18.1bn.
(BBC)
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