Merrill Lynch Contracts

[backlight]

Does not look good for people on existing contracts at Merrill.

http://news.hereisthecity.com/news/b...ews/8137.cntns

"No on-boarding of contingent workers will be permitted for the remainder of the year. This includes all temporary help, contract workers and independent contractors. Renewals of existing agreements are also not allowed."

[DodgyAgent]

Merrills dont seem to be doing much right. A quote from the Times that applies to Russian Investment in general:

But Western companies have rushed to throw money at Russia, both in direct and indirect investment. The push by City bankers into Moscow and St Petersburg is matched only by the flood of billionaire oligarchs taking money out. There’s perhaps a lesson there. I’d back the oligarchs to make the shrewder investment call.

The passion for Russia shows no sign of abating. Last week Merrill Lynch polled 200 fund managers responsible for $600 billion. Their favourite emerging market was Russia, ahead even of fashionable economies such as Thailand, Turkey and Brazil. Mark Mobius, the emerging markets guru at Templeton, went so far as to say yesterday that the Georgian invasion was “a minor event” and was Georgia’s fault anyway. He is as keen on Russian stocks as ever.

When the fighting in South Ossetia was at its height last week, one City analyst was raving about Russia’s spectacular growth. Had I seen the latest car sales figures? Sales were up 41 per cent, making it the biggest consumer of cars in Europe, ahead of Germany.

These are astonishing figures, it is true. And Russia’s tremendous reserves of gas and other commodities make it difficult to ignore. Companies can’t afford to be too fastidious about their business partners. But the idea that Russia can be seen as just another economy, and its businesses assessed purely in terms of dry p/e ratios, is folly.

There’s an echo of Robert Maxwell in the 1980s. Everyone agreed he was a monster, everyone heard rumours of his crookedness. And everyone, from Goldman Sachs downwards, was desperate to do business with him. Mr Maxwell had no scruples about betraying his shareholders and stealing from his pensioners. Western investors are mistaken if they think that Vladimir Putin would hesitate to expropriate their assets if it suited him.

I am feeling very smug as my business is not aligned to either retail or finance

[thunderlizard]

Does not look good for people on existing contracts at Merrill.

It doesn't look wholly bad either. They're operating within a closed shop, for now.

[bobsmithldn]

It doesn't look wholly bad either. They're operating within a closed shop, for now.

"Renewals of existing agreements are also not allowed."

Does NOT look good at all.

[Tensai]

But Western companies have rushed to throw money at Russia, both in direct and indirect investment. The push by City bankers into Moscow and St Petersburg is matched only by the flood of billionaire oligarchs taking money out. There’s perhaps a lesson there. I’d back the oligarchs to make the shrewder investment call.

Anyone following a certain UK oil company's problems in Russia recently would agree wholeheartedly. The phrase "state-sponsored capitalism" is a quaint euphemism for "using the state to screw your foreign business partners."

[swamp]

Western companies have always known the risk of doing business in Russia.

They have rushed to invest because the returns are so high. It seems even after BP and South Ossetia they are still keen to invest (no link, but I read it somewhere )

[ddaft]

A mate of mine works for them and was worried about his renewal when he saw this. Apparently his department is exempt from this crackdown and they've agreed to renew. Don't think he is getting his 11% back that they cut a while back though...