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Merrill Lynch Hosts "Affirmative Action: A View From Wall Street"

Panel of Thought Leaders Cite Practical Effects of Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Decisions

Release by Merrill Lynch

NEW YORK, August 8, 2003 — Rosemary Berkery, executive vice president and general counsel at Merrill Lynch, presided over "Affirmative Action: A View From Wall Street," an exploration of the recent landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions and their implications for corporate America.

Leading experts from law, business school and nonprofit legal defense organizations participated in the symposium before an audience of employment lawyers, senior human resource managers, senior diversity officers, executive search firms and Merrill Lynch employees at the company's world headquarters.

"We wanted to delve into the analysis on the case and explore what the real impact is on the financial services industry and our diverse population of employees," Berkery said. "At Merrill Lynch, we seek diversity in our employee population not only as the right thing to do, but as essential to competing in the global marketplace."

Participants in the symposium were:

• Khin Mai Aug, staff attorney of the Asian Legal Defense and Education Fund
• Marisa Demeo, regional counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
• Elaine Jones, president and director-counsel, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc.
• Kathy Rodgers, president, NOW Legal Defense Fund
• Theodore M. Shaw, associate director-counsel, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc.
• David Thomas, Ph.D., the H. Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and member of the Merrill Lynch Diversity Advisory Board.

Mr. Shaw, part of the committee that developed the current Michigan Law School admissions policy in the early 90s, began the evening with an overview of the Supreme Court decisions. "As far as I know, this symposium is a first," said Mr. Shaw. "This is a great opportunity for private employers to discuss the issues raised by the decision."

Mr. Shaw's presentation was followed by a roundtable discussion with Mses. Aug, Demeo, Jones, Rodgers and Mr. Shaw on the impact the decision will have on private employers.

Some highlights of the discussion:

• Although the Supreme Court decision relates to higher education, it will positively impact corporate America and Wall Street, as universities, and law schools in particular, are the training ground for leaders in business and industry.
• Companies are serving an increasingly diverse, global marketplace which necessitates a diverse workforce with cultural competencies and language skills.
• To be effective, corporate diversity programs should be carefully structured and placed within the context of an organization's overall mission.
• Companies must work toward identifying and removing the barriers that prevent women and minorities from moving up the ranks.

Dr. Thomas closed the panel discussion with a brief summary and urged that diversity be a positive influence on the way organizations operate, compete and relate to their employees and their communities. "Corporations must ask themselves what they aspire to, how diversity is important to that and how to structure a program that will help attain that goal, which will ultimately have a positive impact on the entire organization."

Westina Matthews Shatteen, first vice president of Merrill Lynch and moderator of the symposium, said: "By presenting timely and valuable business knowledge to our employees, we prepare them to perform with excellence and insight. The Supreme Court decision is a decisive and important moment in history and we believe it will affect our workplace and corporate America in a positive way."

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 $1.4 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. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.

Contact:
Selena Morris 212.449.7283
smorris@exchange.ml.com