Keith Jacobson, managing director and former head of the recently disbanded strategic solutions group (SSG) at Merrill Lynch in New York, has left the firm. After SSG, a specialized group responsible for structuring and marketing derivatives-based transactions, was merged into Merrill's derivatives sales division last November, Jacobson's role was eliminated (DW, 11/10). Jacobson quit in late January after failing to find a suitable role within the firm, explained one Merrill insider. Michael DuVally, spokesman at the firm in New York, declined comment. Jacobson could not be reached.