"They are becomining increasingly frustrated by my inability to go to work," Mr McCann told the court in a reference to the unnamed firm, according to a report by Dow Jones.

Bank of America acquired Merrill very early in January 2009.

People who claim to be familiar with the matter - and media reports going back a month - say the company that wants to put Mr McCann to work so badly is UBS. But opinions differ as to what job he's up for. Some see him replacing UBS Wealth Management Americas chief Martin Hoekstra; others peg him to lead UBS US retail brokerage under Hoekstra.

Observers are equally split as to why UBS is so keen to have Mr McCann that it's willing, it would seem, to have him enter into a legal dispute with Bank of America that could easily run past the late-January expiration of his presumptive no-work period.

"It doesn't make any sense, not for an appointment at this level," says Mark Elzweig of the New York-based executive-search firm Mark Elzweig Co. "Usually if someone of will be able to bring over a lot of producers, but again: how much do producers care about following some guy who's a hundred levels above them?"

UBS and Bank of America didn't respond to requests for comment.