If the deal proceeds to plan, BofA would secure the Merrill brand and the largest retail broker network in the US, with a 17,000‐strong herd of financial advisers as well as a leading investment bank and wealth management franchise. There are, though, two big dangers. First, much of the risk Merrill has "offloaded" in its vendor‐financed sale of toxic securities could come back to haunt its new owner. Second, a culture war between two workforces remunerated according to different pay systems seems unavoidable.