Scott A. Kisting Appointed Co-head, Global Bank Group

    Business Editors

    NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 3, 2005--Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. today announced the appointment of Scott A. Kisting, a 33-year veteran of the banking industry, as co-head of the Global Bank Group.
    Mr. Kisting, 57, and John Qua will co-head the Global Bank Group, which manages a broad range of private client and institutional banking activities worldwide. Mr. Kisting will focus on small business lending and consumer banking services, with a view towards offering new banking products and services and expanding the firm's client base.
    James P. Gorman, president, Global Private Client, said in announcing the appointment, "We are adapting our organizational structure to pursue an important area of growth for Merrill Lynch. Scott Kisting is an accomplished executive with broad experience in the banking industry. He is the ideal person to lead the growth of our retail and small business banking activities, and will complement the capable management team led by John Qua that we already have in place."
    Mr. Kisting said, "Given Merrill Lynch's nationwide presence and the power of its brand, there is a huge opportunity to further expand banking services for the benefit of individuals and small businesses. I am excited to be part of this effort."
    Mr. Kisting joined Bank of America in 1971 and after a succession of executive positions, served from 1984 to 1990 as executive vice president and head of commercial banking and small business banking.
    Between 1990-1997, he was group executive vice president at Minneapolis-based Norwest Corporation, where he was responsible for a number of the company's key banking operations.
    From 1997 to 1998, he served as chief operating officer for Citizens Financial Group based in Providence, RI, and then returned to California as group executive vice president and president, retail and commercial banking for California Federal Bank in San Francisco, where he served until 2002.
    Mr. Kisting has also served as the national director for the Risk Management Association (RMA) and Consumer Banking Association (CBA).
    Most recently, Mr. Kisting has been a consultant to Merrill Lynch, advising on strategies to grow the company's banking activities.
    In recent years, Merrill Lynch has introduced a number of new products and services to assist clients in meeting their banking and cash management needs. These include the Beyond Banking(R) account, the MERRILL+(SM) Visa(R) credit card, and the Loan Management Account(SM) (LMA(SM)).
    Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading financial management and advisory companies, with offices in 36 countries and total client assets of approximately $1.5 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global underwriter of debt and equity securities and strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Through Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, the company is one of the world's largest managers of financial assets. Firmwide assets under management total $478 billion. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.

--30--KB/ny*

CONTACT: Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. Media Relations: James Wiggins, 212-449-7280 James_Wiggins@ml.com

KEYWORD: NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING MANAGEMENT CHANGES SOURCE: Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.

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