Merrill Lynch Fires Broker Over Hint of Business Week Tips

Merrill Lynch & Co. said today it dismissed a stockbroker from its New London, Conn., office as a result of an investigation into whether trading was conducted on advance knowledge of Business Week magazine articles.

Merrill Lynch spokesman William Clark said William Dillon, 33, who worked as a financial consultant for the firm for nearly two years, was fired after company lawyers uncovered trading records suggesting stocks might have been bought and sold on tips about upcoming articles in the magazine’s “Inside Wall Street” column.

The magazine, which is published by McGraw-Hill Inc., disclosed last week that its legal counsel was examining the entire operation for possible leaks. Magazine officials believe the information probably was leaked by workers at one of four plants that print Business Week or by a postal employee rather than a member of its editorial staff.