Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Merrill Lynch Faces Government Auction Rate Securities Request

Merrill Lynch has received requests from governmental agencies for information regarding auction-rate securities, including the recent failure of auctions, and is cooperating with the requests, the company said on Tuesday.

The $330 billion market for the securities -- long-term bonds whose rates are reset periodically -- froze this winter. Investors flooded dealers with paper backed by bond issuers whom they feared would lose their 'triple-A' credit ratings.

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