Merrill's Fleming not speaking at bank conference

NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) Merrill Lynch&Co co-President Gregory Fleming, under fire recently for his links to ousted Chief Executive Stan O'Neal and billions of dollars in credit market losses, canceled a Tuesday presentation before a Merrill investor conference.

An assistant to Fleming early Tuesday said Fleming would not be speaking at the Merrill Lynch Banking and Financial Services Investor Conference, a three-day event that begins Tuesday. As recently as Monday, Fleming was scheduled to speak at 8:00 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT).

''It was a scheduling conflict. Nothing more,'' said Susan McCabe, a spokeswoman for Merrill Lynch.

McCabe said no speaker replaced Fleming, who was to be the first presenter after introductory remarks from analyst Guy Moszkowski.

REUTERS BJR RN1906