New York Attorney General Ends Probe Into Merrill Ex-Executive
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said he concluded an informal inquiry he began last week into the ouster of Thomas Patrick, the former No. 2 executive at Merrill Lynch & Co.
Mr. Spitzer began the inquiry after learning that Merrill's board had investigated Mr. Patrick's role in the payment by a Merrill consultant of $75,000 to a TV journalist, Bill Kurtis , around the same time last fall that Mr. Kurtis was developing a story about whether Mr. Spitzer was "overreaching" in trying to regulate Wall Street.
Although the Merrill probe resulted in Mr. Patrick losing oversight over the securities firm's communications and public affairs, the inquiry concluded there hadn't been any impropriety, partly because the show wasn't ever produced.
Mr. Kurtis and the consultant, Rick Cash, chief executive officer of Cambridge Group Inc., denied any connection between the payment and the show idea about Mr. Spitzer. Mr. Kurtis said the payment was primarily for the development of a high-definition video that would have been produced with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra called "Tribute to America." Mr. Kurtis said a preliminary version of that video has been produced, but hasn't been completed with accompanying music, which may come from another orchestra or musical source.
Merrill Chief Executive Officer Stan O'Neal ousted Mr. Patrick a week ago after a separate dispute over the firm's management-succession plans. Mr. Patrick backed plans to elevate a close colleague of his, Arshad Zakaria, head of global markets and investment banking, to the role of president, which Mr. O'Neal opposed. In the wake of Mr. Patrick's departure, Mr. Zakaria's future at Merrill is uncertain.
After Messrs. Spitzer and O'Neal spoke by phone Monday, the Attorney General's office issued a statement saying, "We've concluded that whatever inappropriate behavior might have existed was addressed by the company. We now consider the matter closed."
纽约州司法部长结束美林前二号人物调查
纽约州司法部长(Attorney General)斯皮策(Eliot Spitzer)称，他已经结束了上周以来对美林公司(Merrill Lynch & Co.)前第二号人物托马斯?帕特里克(Thomas Patrick)被解雇一事的非正式调查。
斯皮策此次进行调查的原因当追溯到去年秋天。当时一位名叫Bill Kurtis的电视记者正在策划一个电视节目，主题是探讨斯皮策在试图对华尔街进行监管方面是否将手伸得太长了，而大约就在那段时间，美林公司的一名顾问向该电视记者支付了75,000美元。正是因为听说美林公司的董事会曾对托马斯?帕特里克在上述付款事件中扮演了何种角色一事进行过调查，斯皮策才展开了上述非正式调查。 尽管美林公司的调查导致帕特里克无法继续管理该公司的外联和公共事务，但斯皮策通过调查却认为，这一付款事件并无不当之处，部分原因是该记者策划的电视节目最终并未能制作出来。
Kurtis和美林公司的顾问Rick Cash均否认75,000美元付款和有关斯皮策的节目创意有任何关联。Rick Cash是Cambridge Group Inc.的首席执行长。Kurtis称，上述款项原本打算用于开发一个和芝加哥交响乐团共同制作的高清晰度录像节目，名为"向美国献礼"。Kurtis还称，该节目的初步版本已经录制完成，但是尚未配上音乐。 美林公司的首席执行长奥尼尔(Stan O'Neal)于一周前解雇了帕特里克，此前两人为公司管理层的继任问题发生了争执。帕特里克支持一项提升Arshad Zakaria至总裁职位的计划，奥尼尔却表示反对。Arshad Zakaria目前担任美林全球市场和投资银行业务的负责人，此人和帕特里克关系密切。帕特里克离职后，Zakaria在美林公司的前途不明。
斯皮策和奥尼尔于周一通完电话后，司法部长办公室就发布了一项声明称，他们得出的结论是：美林公司任何可能出现的失当行为均已由公司对外公布，因此调查到此为止。
