Merrill Lynch on Wednesday night was close to hiring Thomas Montag, a former Goldman Sachs executive, to fill a senior role in its investment banking and capital markets trading business.

The move, which could be announced as early as Thursday, would represent a coup for John Thain, Merrill’s chief executive and a former colleague of Mr Montag at Goldman. Mr Montag, who left Goldman in December after 22 years there, has been courted heavily by several investment banks, including UBS and Bear Stearns, before its collapse, as well as private equity firms.