Merrill Lynch is a financial management and advisory company with offices in 37 countries and total client assets of approximately $1.4 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a global underwriter of debt and equity securities and strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals worldwide.

Over the year 2002, it has slashed its sales and support staff in the Middle East, in an effort to focus on the upper end of the financial market. The move, part of a restructuring scheme, has downsized the company's office in Dubai from 100 workers to 32.