Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Borrowings and Deposits

v2.4.0.6
Borrowings and Deposits
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2012
Borrowings and Deposits [Abstract]  
Borrowings and Deposits
Note 12.
Borrowings and Deposits

Prior to Merrill Lynch's acquisition by Bank of America, ML & Co. was the primary issuer of Merrill Lynch's unsecured debt instruments. Debt instruments were also issued by certain subsidiaries. Bank of America has not assumed or guaranteed the long-term debt that was issued or guaranteed by ML & Co. or its subsidiaries prior to the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America.

Beginning late in the third quarter of 2009, in connection with the update or renewal of certain Merrill Lynch international securities offering programs, Bank of America agreed to guarantee debt securities, warrants and/or certificates issued by certain subsidiaries of ML & Co. on a going forward basis. All existing ML & Co. guarantees of securities issued by those same Merrill Lynch subsidiaries under various international securities offering programs will remain in full force and effect as long as those securities are outstanding, and Bank of America has not assumed any of those prior ML & Co. guarantees or otherwise guaranteed such securities. There were approximately $6.6 billion of securities guaranteed by Bank of America at September 30, 2012.

Following the completion of Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch, ML & Co. became a subsidiary of Bank of America and established intercompany lending and borrowing arrangements to facilitate centralized liquidity management. Included in these intercompany agreements is a $75 billion one-year revolving unsecured line of credit that allows ML & Co. to borrow funds from Bank of America at a spread to LIBOR that is reset periodically and is consistent with other intercompany agreements. This credit line was renewed effective January 1, 2012 with a maturity date of January 1, 2013. The credit line will automatically be extended by one year to the succeeding January 1st unless Bank of America provides written notice not to extend at least 45 days prior to the maturity date. The agreement does not contain any financial or other covenants. There were no outstanding borrowings under the line of credit at September 30, 2012.

In addition to the $75 billion unsecured line of credit, there is also a revolving unsecured line of credit that allows ML & Co. to borrow up to $25 billion from Bank of America. Interest on borrowings under the line of credit is based on prevailing short-term market rates. The line of credit does not contain any financial or other covenants. The line of credit matures on February 12, 2013. At September 30, 2012, approximately $4.1 billion was outstanding under the line of credit.

Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Incorporated ("MLPF&S") also has the following borrowing agreements with Bank of America:

A $4 billion one-year revolving unsecured line of credit - Interest on the line of credit is based on prevailing short-term market rates. The credit line will mature on November 1, 2013 and may automatically be extended by one year to the succeeding November 1st unless Bank of America provides written notice not to extend at least 45 days prior to the maturity date. At September 30, 2012, there were no outstanding borrowings under the line of credit.

A $15 billion 364-day revolving unsecured line of credit - Interest on the line of credit is based on prevailing short-term market rates. The line of credit matures on February 19, 2013. At September 30, 2012, approximately $0.9 billion was outstanding under the line of credit.

During the quarter ended June 30, 2012, $2.6 billion that was outstanding under the following MLPF&S borrowing agreements with Bank of America was repaid and the agreements were terminated. The terminated agreements were replaced by intercompany funding arrangements between MLPF&S and ML & Co.

A subordinated loan agreement for approximately $1.5 billion - Interest under this agreement was calculated based on a spread to LIBOR.

A $7 billion revolving subordinated line of credit - Interest under this agreement was calculated based on a spread to LIBOR.

During the quarter ended June 30, 2012, Merrill Lynch entered into a series of transactions involving repurchases of its senior and subordinated debt. Through a tender offer and certain open market transactions, Merrill Lynch repurchased senior and subordinated debt with a carrying value of $551 million for $474 million in cash, and recorded a gain of $77 million. In addition, during the three months ended March 31, 2012, Merrill Lynch completed a tender offer to repurchase and retire certain subordinated notes for approximately $1.2 billion in cash, which resulted in a gain of $328 million.
The value of Merrill Lynch’s debt instruments as recorded on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets does not necessarily represent the amount that will be repaid at maturity. This is due to the following:
As a result of the acquisition by Bank of America, all debt instruments were adjusted to fair value on January 1, 2009;
Certain debt issuances are accounted for at fair value and incorporate changes in Merrill Lynch’s creditworthiness (see Note 4);
Certain structured notes whose coupon or repayment terms are linked to the performance of debt and equity securities, indices, currencies or commodities reflect the fair value of those risks (see Note 4); and
Certain debt issuances are adjusted for the impact of fair value hedge accounting (see Note 6).
The tables below exclude Merrill Lynch’s intercompany borrowings from Bank of America, see Note 2 for further information. Total borrowings at September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, which are comprised of short-term borrowings, long-term borrowings and junior subordinated notes (related to trust preferred securities), consisted of the following:
(dollars in millions)
 
September 30,
2012
 
December 31,
2011
Senior debt
$
48,026

 
$
59,394

Senior structured notes
26,849

 
28,523

Subordinated debt
10,719

 
12,661

Junior subordinated notes (related to trust preferred securities)
3,804

 
3,789

Other subsidiary financing
1,213

 
868

Debt issued by consolidated VIEs
10,297

 
11,534

Total
$
100,908

 
$
116,769

 
 
 
 


Borrowings and deposits at September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, are presented below:
(dollars in millions)
 
September 30,
2012
 
 
December 31,
2011
Short-term borrowings
 

 
 
 

Other unsecured short-term borrowings
$
682

 
 
$
1,112

Short-term borrowings issued by consolidated VIEs(1)
2,874

 
 
4,939

Total
$
3,556

 
 
$
6,051

Long-term borrowings(2)
 

 
 
 

Fixed-rate obligations(3)
$
52,729

 
 
$
60,482

Variable-rate obligations(4)(5)
33,396

 
 
39,852

Long-term borrowings issued by consolidated VIEs(1)
7,423

 
 
6,595

Total
$
93,548

 
 
$
106,929

Deposits
 

 
 
 

Non-U.S. 
$
12,529

 
 
$
12,364

 
 
 
 
 
(1)
See Note 9 for additional information on debt issued by consolidated VIEs.
(2)
Excludes junior subordinated notes (related to trust preferred securities).
(3)
Fixed-rate obligations are generally swapped to variable rates.
(4)
Variable interest rates are generally based on rates such as LIBOR, the U.S. Treasury Bill rate, or the Federal Funds rate.
(5)
Includes structured notes.
See Note 5 for additional information on the fair value of long-term borrowings.
The weighted-average interest rates for borrowings at September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011 (excluding structured products) were as follows:
 
September 30,
2012
 
 
December 31,
2011
Short-term borrowings
0.2
%
 
 
0.4
%
Long-term borrowings
3.9

 
 
4.0

Junior subordinated notes (related to trust preferred securities)
6.5

 
 
6.5


Merrill Lynch also obtains standby letters of credit from issuing banks to satisfy various counterparty collateral requirements, in lieu of depositing cash or securities collateral. Such standby letters of credit aggregated $1.8 billion and $2.1 billion at September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively.
Long-Term Borrowings
At September 30, 2012, long-term borrowings mature as follows:
(dollars in millions)
 
Amount
 
Percentage of Total
Less than 1 year
$
23,354

 
25
%
1 – 2 years
22,938

 
25

2 – 3 years
6,064

 
6

3 – 4 years
4,346

 
5

4 – 5 years
8,654

 
9

Greater than 5 years
28,192

 
30

Total
$
93,548

 
100
%


Certain long-term borrowing agreements contain provisions whereby the borrowings are redeemable at the option of the holder (“put” options) at specified dates prior to maturity. These borrowings are reflected in the above table as maturing at their put dates, rather than their contractual maturities. However, Merrill Lynch believes that a portion of such borrowings will remain outstanding beyond their earliest redemption date.
The maturity of certain structured notes whose coupon or repayment terms are linked to the performance of debt and equity securities, indices, currencies or commodities may be accelerated based on the value of a referenced index or security, in which case Merrill Lynch may be required to immediately settle the obligation for cash or other securities. These notes are included in the portion of long-term debt maturing in less than a year.
Senior and subordinated debt obligations do not contain provisions that could, upon an adverse change in ML & Co.’s credit rating, financial ratios, earnings or cash flows, trigger a requirement for an early payment, additional collateral support, changes in terms, acceleration of maturity, or the creation of an additional financial obligation.
See Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements contained in the 2011 Annual Report for additional information on borrowings.