Alberto Cribiore was named as interim non-executive chairman of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MER) after chairman and CEO Stanley O’Neal abruptly resigned today. Cribiore will head the search for a new CEO.

The announcement of O’Neal’s resignation culminated a turbulent 10 days that included Merrill reporting $8.5 billion in write-downs for failed credit and mortgage-related investments and a third-quarter loss of $2.3 billion, the biggest quarterly loss in its history.

Not even tomato juice could keep the stink of sub-prime mortgage losses from off Mr. O’Neal. The sub-prime market meltdown has burned several executives and investors at Countrywide Financial Corporation (NSYE: CFC), UBS AG (NYSE:UBS), Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) and Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C). It is not a question of “if” but a question of “when” other financial institutions will own up to their losses and mistakes relating to sub-prime debt.

“Last year, Mr. O’Neal’s $46.4 million pay package made him Wall Street’s second-highest paid chief executive.”

I applaud the fast action of a board to hold their executive leadership accountable for performance. Markets are difficult to predict and risk is likewise a challenge to manage. However, the recent business strategy at Merrill Lynch under O’Neal has been flighty at best. Their recent plunge and over-exposure into the sub-prime market is the culmination of several missteps. From Forbes,

"They are the next trade guys," quipped analyst Richard Bove of Punk Ziegel, of Merrill's hummingbird approach to the business. "They can't hold onto a strategy. They need to stumble on something they can embrace."

So Alberto Cribiore has been called on to steady the ship. Merrill still has substantial exposure in mortgage-bond holdings. Mr. Cribiore is a private equity player and understands debt and risk but has not been identified as a long-term answer of leadership at the giant brokerage but rather the leader of the search for a new CEO. He is a Merrill Lynch board member the founder of the private equity firm Brera Capital. Ironically, Mr. Cribiore was the first board member Mr. O’Neal appointed to the Merrill put on his board after becoming chief executive in 2002. Now the tables are turned and Cribiore is looking for an appointment to replace O’Neal.