Merrill Lynch today announced the appointments of Ihor Danyliuk as head of Canadian research at Merrill Lynch Canada Inc., and Tom Astle as the company’s global coordinator for communication equipment research. Both appointments are effective immediately.

“These appointments demonstrate Merrill Lynch’s commitment to providing the best people and resources to our Canadian clients,” said Robert McCann, senior vice president and director of Global Securities Research and Economics, Merrill Lynch. “We continue to have a full complement of Canadian-based research analysts who are part of a global research network.”

Danyliuk will manage Merrill Lynch’s Canadian research efforts and continue his equity coverage of the Canadian special situations, transportation/industrials and media sectors.

He joined Merrill Lynch Canada in 1993 as a special situations analyst covering the transportation, industrial products, media, consumer products health care sectors. A highly ranked analyst in numerous surveys, including Brendan Woods and Greenwich, Danyliuk has long been recognized for the depth of his analysis and the accuracy of his research. For the past year, he has also been deputy director of research in Canada.

Danyliuk began his career in investment banking more than 18 years ago and holds a BASc and a MASc degree from the University of Toronto and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Astle, in his role as global coordinator for communication equipment research, will work with industry specialists in and outside the U.S. to create value-added products that cross geographical and sector boundaries, while ensuring consistent excellence in Merrill Lynch’s research product.

He will also continue in his role as the firm’s lead analyst covering the optical space, including Nortel, JDS Uniphase, Agere, and Finisar. Mr. Astle’s team will continue to cover Canadian hardware companies and will expand its reach in the telecom test equipment space with such names as Ixia, Digital Lightwave, Acterna and Exfo.