At least one good thing for Bank of America about its ill-fated purchase of writedown-ridden Merrill Lynch – the deal helped boost its spot in the closely watched rankings of top merger advisors.
    
The so-called league tables, which can help raise or lower the reputation of a bank or at least its bragging rights, changed for 2008 after the recent spate of deals in the finance sector. Thomson Reuters adjusted the 2008 rankings to reflect the combinations of Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo/Wachovia, and PNC/National City.
    
For 2008, the combined Bank of America Merrill Lynch ranked fourth among advisors for global mergers and acquisitions, pushing UBS to 5th place. Previously, Merrill Lynch ranked as No. 6, and Banc of America Securities LLC stood at No. 14. 
 
The Bank of America Merrill Lynch behemoth jumped in other rankings, as well, placing among the top three advisors in the equity, debt, and syndicated loan spaces, according to the new Thomson Reuters data.
 
The combined Wells Fargo/Wachovia, known as Wells Fargo & Co, moved into the Top 10 for both global syndicated lending and global equity capital markets. The former Wachovia Corp had previously stood at No. 11 in global equity bookrunning, and No. 14 for loan syndication.
   
Wall Street rankings and statistics may seem like “inside baseball” jargon for most of the world, but you can bet Bank of America Merrill Lynch will celebrate its new standing. It doesn’t have much else to celebrate, to be sure.