NYSE’s John Thain New Merrill CEO

According to reports in the online versions of the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, NYSE Euronext CEO John Thain has accepted the top spot at Merrill Lynch.

While Thain was considered a candidate on the short lists of both Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink was thought to be a more likely candidate to replace Stanley O’Neal, who resigned on October 30th. (Click here to read the Post story, here to the read the Journal story, subscription required.)