Alexis Stenfors is a 38-year-old currency trader in London, who is employed by Merrill Lynch. In 2008, he and other traders lost hundreds of millions of dollars for Merrill, gambling on currency fluctuations and derivative trades. He and other executives at Merrill still received hefty performance bonuses. Investigations into Stenfors and other losses began in March 2009, because the losses were not reported until after Merrill was bought out by Bank of America.New York Times: Undisclosed Losses at Merrill Lynch Lead to a Trading Inquiry (March 5, 2009)

Stenfors apparently lost at least $120 million—the amount he said he made in 2008—on bad currency gambles and perhaps hundreds of millions more on derivative trades. The investigation into his losses is only a small part of the investigations into the true financial condition of Merrill Lynch as it was during the last few months before it was bought out by Bank of America.

Despite hemorrhaging money in 2008, Merrill's top four executives collectively earned $121 million in 2008, and 696 other employees of Merrill received performance bonuses of at least $1 million each. Most of the money for the executives was also in the form of bonuses, since base salary for Merrill Lynch executives was in between $200,000 and $750,000.New York Times: Undisclosed Losses at Merrill Lynch Lead to a Trading Inquiry (March 5, 2009) ABC News: New Subpoenas in Bank of America Merger Probe (March 4, 2009)

Currently, Stenfors is cooperating with authorities and still employed by Merrill Lynch. He insists the issue is a "misunderstanding." As of February 25, 2009, Stenfors was listed as "inactive" on the Financial Services Authority register. That means he cannot trade; which may mean that he is on leave pending outcome of the investigationWall Street Journal: Financial News: Merrill Trader Registered As 'Inactive' (March 6, 2009) Daily Mail: Merrill Lynch trader investigated over 'loss' of £84million in City currency gamble (March 6, 2009) Guardian: Merrill Lynch admits investigation of $120m 'rogue trades' (March 6, 2009)

• Daily Mail: Merrill Lynch trader investigated over 'loss' of 84million pounds in City currency gamble (March 6, 2009)