Merrill boots Asian fixed income co-head

The executive, Ranodeb Roy, who was based in Hong Kong, said that he was asked to leave the company in a meeting yesterday.

Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. has fired the co-head of its Asian fixed-income business, as the company looks to rebound after it posted $7.9 billion in losses on subprime mortgage-related securities and bad loans.
The executive, Ranodeb Roy, who was based in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg that he was asked to leave the company in a meeting yesterday.
However, he didn’t give the news service a reason for his departure.
Anthony Hung, who helped lead Merrill’s fixed-income business, commodities and currencies businesses in Asia along with Mr. Roy, will become the sole division chief, according to an internal memo sent to Merrill employees yesterday.
E. Stanley O’Neal, Merrill’s former chief executive was forced to resign on Oct. 30 after reporting the largest quarterly loss in the New York-based company’s history.
John A. Thain, a former president at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. who has been the chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange since 2004, was hired as Merrill’s new chief executive.