And she prevailed upon the brokerage to restate their case.
"The business has gone through brokerage to investment management to wealth management," she said.
Some 14% of managers went so far as to tell their trader which brokerage to use.
What the bank did see was the trail of transfers that allowed the brokerage to cover its $175 million overdraft.
Recall that prior to the crises banks were rushing headlong into mortgages, securitisation and prime brokerage to hedge funds.
"We expanded managed brokerage to Insignia nationally, and we will export it to other urban areas," he added.
The major potential conflicts are washing away as the tide turns from brokerage to advisory but some small flaws still persist.
(When the couple first invested with Smith Barney, Citigroup still owned it; Citigroup sold a controlling stake in the brokerage to Morgan Stanley in 2009).
And he recently left a nationally affiliated brokerage to work for a smaller, more locally focused firm, which agreed to let him keep 65percentt of his earnings.
Since Mr. B. joined the firm, it has changed from straight brokerage to include municipal bonds as well as commodity futures.
"And he has a tremendous legacy as the C.E.O. who took Merrill from being a mom-and-pop brokerage to being a global financial services provider.
