Adrian H. Faure

In 1915 Charles Edward Merrill founded Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) with Edmund C. Lynch in Baltimore, Maryland. The modern Merrill Lynch was formed in 1940 through mergers with E.A. Pierce & Cassatt and, soon after, Fenner & Beane. In 1973, Merrill Lynch adopted a holding company format, with Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. as the parent and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith as the operating subsidiary. Merrill Lynch Asset Management, Inc. (MLAM) was created as an integral business unit in the Merrill Lynch family in 1976. Fund Asset Management, doing business as Mercury Asset Management, was acquired in December 1997. In 2000, MLAM and Mercury were combined under the name Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. MLAM manages the Merrill Lynch family of mutual funds, as and acts as sub-advisor to other mutual funds.

Citigroup Global Markets Asia Ltd. (CGMA) is a securities brokerage firm headquartered Hong Kong. They are a subsidiary of Citigroup Global Markets Hong Kong Holdings Ltd., ultimately owned by Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) in the US. Formerly known as Citi Smith Barney, the firm was reorganized in 2008 when Citigroup combined their brokerage and private banking businesses. CGMA offers stock trading services to various institutional investors.