NEW YORK (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley (MS.N) said on Sunday it hired former Merrill Lynch President and Chief Operating Officer Gregory Fleming to run its investment management group.

Fleming -- one of the architects of Merrill Lynch & Co Inc&&9;s sale to Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) -- will be president of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, which includes the firm&&9;s merchant banking business. He will also be responsible for Morgan Stanley&&9;s global research and will report to incoming Chief Executive James Gorman, the firm said.

Fleming left Bank of America after the deal closed in January and has been working as a senior research scholar at Yale University. He has been portrayed as a key proponent of the sale of Merrill Lynch at the height of last year&&9;s financial crisis despite initial reluctance from then-Merrill CEO John Thain.

In Andrew Ross Sorkin&&9;s book on the financial crisis, "Too Big to Fail," Fleming was also credited with getting Bank of America to agree to pay Merrill bankers 2008 bonuses up to the same level as in 2007. He also got the bank to agree to an airtight "material adverse change" agreement, meaning that even if Merrill&&9;s businesses continued to deteriorate Bank of America couldn&&9;t easily back out of the deal low fee payday loans.

Both elements of the deal proved to be very controversial as public outrage was sparked by news about the bonuses and as figures in subsequent months showed that Merrill&&9;s businesses were in worse shape than had been publicly acknowledged and Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis threatened to back out of the deal.

Fleming joined Merrill Lynch in 1992 and from 2003 to 2007 co-headed Merrill Lynch&&9;s markets and banking group. Fleming, a noted rainmaker who focused on financial companies, oversaw Merrill&&9;s investment banking.

He will be joining Morgan Stanley in February. Fleming&&9;s hiring follows a shuffle of executives announced earlier this week when Gorman pegged Morgan Stanley&&9;s chief financial officer and head of investment banking to run its crucial institutional securities unit.

(Reporting by Michael Erman, additional reporting by Martin Howell, editing by Martin Golan)

Morgan Stanley hires ex-Merrill COO Fleming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) &<51; Sales at United States retailers rose more than expected in November as consumers spent more on gasoline and a wide range of other goods, data showed on Friday, raising hopes of a self-sustaining economic recovery.

The Commerce Department said total retail sales increased 1.3 percent last month, the largest advance since August, after rising by a downwardly revised 1.1 percent in October. It was the second straight monthly gain. Sales in October were previously reported to have increased 1.4 percent.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales gaining 0.7 percent last month. Overall sales in November were helped by strong receipts from gasoline stations and increased purchases of motor vehicles and parts, building materials and electronic goods, among others. Gasoline sales surged 6 percent, the largest increase since June.

Compared with November last year, sales were up 1.9 percent, the first year-on-year gain since August 2008, a Commerce Department official said.

The data should help to ease concerns that the economy&S217;s recovery could falter because of lackluster consumer spending. The economy resumed growing in the third quarter, mostly because of government spending.

With the labor market starting to stabilize and household wealth rising, there is growing optimism that consumer spending will soon pick up.

Excluding motor vehicles and parts, retail sales increased 1 free credit report online.2 percent in November, the largest increase since January, after being flat in October. Economists had expected a 0.4 percent increase.

Core retail sales excluding autos, gasoline and building materials rose 0.6 percent, advancing for a fifth straight month.

Sales of building materials climbed 1.5 percent last month, the biggest gain since April 2008, after falling 1.8 percent in October. Purchases of electronics and appliances jumped 2.8 percent, the largest increase since January. The strong report on retail sales came as the Labor Department reported a rise of 1.7 percent in import prices in November, their largest gain since June, driven higher by fuel costs.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a slimmer rise of 1 percent. October&S217;s gain was also revised up to 0.8 percent from the 0.7 percent previously reported.

Import prices have been steadily rising over the last year and have increased during eight of the last nine months, the Labor Department said. They also rose 3.7 percent from November 2008 in the first annual gain since the October 2007-2008 period.

Excluding petroleum, import prices were up a much slimmer 0.7 percent in November.

U.S. Retail Sales Exceed Forecasts