No one can accuse Merrill Lynch Europe of being dogmatique.

One of its vice chairmen, former Air France CEO Christian Blanc, has launched an Internet-based movement called "l'ami public" - the public friend - whose manifesto lambastes French politics for being sterile and pledges to spur reform. (The Web site: www. amipublic.com.) Blanc quit Air France in 1997 when Lionel Jospin's government blocked his plans to privatize the carrier; some view l'ami public as Blanc's bid to win a post in a new, center-right government if Jacques Chirac is reelected.

Meanwhile, another Merrill vice chairman is taking a quite different political tack. Adair Turner, former head of the Confederation of British Industry, has published Just Capital: The Liberal Economy, which challenges the American business model. Even in a global marketplace, he argues, governments can pursue progressive social agendas. The book "helps to build a relationship" with Merrill clients, contends Turner, "because people find it sufficiently interesting that they want to discuss it."

Merrill swears it has no political litmus test. Says a spokesman, "We actively seek out thinkers of these gentlemen's caliber."