Merrill's stock research director Deepak Raj resigns

Merrill Lynch & Co Inc, said on Friday that Deepak Raj, who headed its global  stock research team while it was the target of state and federal investigations, is leaving the Wall Street firm one week after his boss, Robert McCann, resigned.

Raj, who joined Merrill as an analyst in 1979, helped run the company's research department during a  controversial time.

New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer last year accused Merrill analysts, including former Internet star Henry Blodget, of misleading investors by issuing biased research geared to win investment banking deals.

Spitzer, who won a $100 million settlement from Merrill, uncovered a number of damning e-mails in which the firm's analysts privately disparaged stocks they publicly touted.

"While Deepak's resignation is effective today, he will remain as a senior adviser to global research until April 1, to aid in the transition of his duties," vice chairman Thomas Patrick and global research head  Candace Browning said in a memo.

Raj was leaving voluntarily to pursue other interests and has no immediate plans, a Merrill source said.

Merrill in December agreed to a broad $1.5 billion settlement with other investment banks to curb potential research and stock allocation abuses.

McCann, who was head of all global research, left voluntarily on Feb. 7 after a little more than a year on the job and was replaced by Browning.