Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. ("Merrill Lynch" or the Company) is an American multinational investment management and financial services company.

The Complaint alleges that Defendants issued analyst reports with positive ratings on Interliant which failed to disclose that this positive research was issued in order to attract and maintain investment banking business.

In October 2002, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation granted the Merrill Lynch Defendants’ motion to transfer all such cases to the Southern District of New York for coordinated pre-trial proceedings. The cases were transferred to the Honorable Milton Pollack, Senior United States District Judge, and were coordinated under the caption In re Merrill Lynch Research Reports Securities Litigation, 02 MDL 1484.

On December 23, 2002, the Court entered the Case Management Order #1. According to the Order, the actions filed on behalf of purchasers of the common stock of Interliant, Inc. were consolidated and now carried out under In re Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. Interliant, Inc. Research Reports Securities Litigation, 02-CV-3321(MP). On March 13, 2003, a First Amended Class Action Complaint was filed, and the Defendants responded by filing a motion to dismiss. On July 2, 2003, the Court entered the Decision and Order granting the motion to dismiss the consolidated class action Complaint, and on August 7, 2003, the Court entered the Judgment dismissing the Complaint with prejudice. On August 12, 2003, the Court further entered Order #14 denying the Plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration of the Decision and Order. The Plaintiffs then filed a Notice of Appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on September 10, 2003.

According to the U.S. Court of Appeals docket, on January 20, 2005, the Judgment of the District Court was affirmed. Further, on October 19, 2005, the Writ of Certiorari was denied per Supreme Court order.