Fallout from the credit squeeze spread on Wednesday as Merrill Lynch fired several executives and Deutsche Bank announced billions of dollars in losses. Shares in Deutsche rose as investors welcomed the clarification of the extent of the losses. But the Merrill departures reflect turmoil behind the scenes as banks seek to recover from the market upheavals. Osman Semerci, a London-based executive who headed fixed-income trading, and Dale Lattanzio, head of structured credit products, were ousted by Merrill before third-quarter figures are released this month which some analysts expect to feature a $1.5bn loss from fixed-income trading. It also emerged that Dow Kim, former co-head of Merrillâs markets and investment banking business, had left. Mr Kim, who oversaw all Merrillâs trading businesses, announced in May that he planned to leave at the end of the year to set up a hedge fund. Merrill will not now be investing in the fund as had been expected. Merrill was a leading originator of collateralised debt obligations, often composed of subprime mortgages. Insiders say it continued to produce the securities as investorsâ appetite waned, leaving it with a large stockpile that it has had to mark down. The departures of Mr Semerci and Mr Lattanzio will add to fears about Merrill third-quarter results. Shares fell on the news but closed slightly higher at $76. Mr Semerci has been replaced by David Sobotka, Merrillâs head of commodity trading, who will move from Houston to New York. Any fixed-income pros left at investment banks ???