The rumor whipping through market last week had Thomas Bunn, former head of leverage finance at Bank of America, heading to Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, but Bunn said nothing was brewing there. As first reported on LMW's Web site, Bunn said he has "not been in any negotiations with Morgan Stanley. I'm flattered you all think I'd be able to get a new job 10, 20 days after my departure," he quipped. Bunn left B of A in December, a move that surprised many in and out of the bank. William Kourakos, head of high yield capital markets at Morgan Stanley, was on vacation and could not return phone calls. Bram Smith, managing director of global high yield capital markets at Morgan Stanley, did not return calls. Officials at B of A declined to comment.
Bunn declined to say if he has had discussions with other firms but said, "I really can't comment either way. The only person with I've had discussions with is my wife, on whether or not I want to remain in this business. The past four weeks have been an opportunity to step back and reflect on the business, and with the way the market is, that business is not going to be a lot of fun."