Ivy league athletes at schools are leveraging their alumni networks to land Wall Street jobs. See? networking's not just theory. [Bloomberg] HSBC chief executive Michael Geoghegan is threatening to resign if he isn't named chairman at the bank. [Reuters] Pension funds are criticizing the pay package given to new Barclay's chief Bob Diamond [Daily Mail] The UK's Financial Services Authority must hire more than 100 people a month in order to hit recruiting... Read more

Describe your career path. I graduated from law school in 1999 and took a job working at the SEC in corporate finance. I spent three years there; my job was reviewing documents when companies went public. I had an associate who had joined a start-up hedge fund that needed an assistant trader. So I joined the fund, spending three years as an assistant bond trader responsible for a convertible bond arbitrage... Read more

Goldman Sachs' hedge fund unit earned a return of three percent this year, beating the industry average, improving prospects for prop traders leaving the firm. [Bloomberg] Citadel, the $11 billion Chicago-based hedge fund, has opened an office in Boston, hiring three managers there. [Finalternatives] Keefe, Bruyette & Woods is aggressively courting new equity issues and dealflow in Europe, hiring staff in London, including Nick Triggs as co-head of investment banking for Europe.... Read more

Banks are hiring compliance staff. Compliance professionals are hot. They are paid more, respected more, talked about more. But they still don’t have a clue what’s going on. Fabrice Tourre worked for Goldman Sachs in London. In September 2009, the SEC told Goldman Sachs that it was planning enforcement action against Tourre. This was a huge issue: when it became public Goldman’s share price tanked. Evidently aware of the implications of... Read more

Equity researchers are on the rise [Japan] Foreign firms in Tokyo are beginning to increase their equity research hiring. And though much of the current activity is for replacements or upgrades, recruiters are hopeful that some serious expansion might be just around the corner. Get set for a fixed-income talent fight [Singapore] The People’s Bank of China’s recent announcement allowing RMB held offshore to be invested in its domestic bond market is... Read more

Securities firms will cut as many as 80,000 jobs globally - about 10 percent of their workforce - in the next 18 months, predicts Meredith Whitney. The cuts will begin after 2010 compensation is distributed. And for more good news: In a report obtained by Bloomberg, Whitney says comp will be "down dramatically." Her reasoning: “The key product drivers of Wall Street’s revenues and profits over the past decade have... Read more

RBS said it will cut 3,500 jobs in the UK and close 10 offices. The bank is aiming to reduce costs by eliminating technology and administrative positions. The move follows last week's announcement that the firm would scale back its insurance business by shutting 14 offices. CEO Stephen Hester has eliminated more than 20,000 jobs since RBS was rescued by the government two years ago. [Bloomberg] Meanwhile, HSBC said many banks... Read more

JPMorgan's getting out of proprietary trading to comply with new curbs on investments banks. Those on the commodities desk have reportedly been told they'll be out of work - less than 20 traders are affected there, and only one of those is in New York, the rest are in London. The bank is also reportedly considering close the fixed-income and equities desk, where another 50 to 75 employees work. [Bloomberg] Finra... Read more

Wells Fargo is getting back into the commercial mortgage-backed securities that helped fell Wachovia Corp., the bank it bought in 2008. Wells Fargo has added more than 20 bankers and support personnel over the past three months to increase loan originations and bundle them into CMBS. It now has 70 to 80 employees devoted to underwriting and packaging loans for securitization, down from a peak of 120. Other firms moving... Read more

George Gatch will replace Eve Guernsey as chief executive officer of Investment Management Americas at JPMorgan. [InvestmentNews] Ross Levitsky, Philippe Sandmeier, Lawrence Williamson, Kurt Anstaett Join Deutsche Bank's Corporate Banking Coverage platform. [Deutsche via BW] HSBC hires Clyde Choi to head emerging markets foreign-exchange trading in Asia. [Bloomberg] U.S. Trust adds eight wealth management executives, including Brian Sharpe from BlackRock and Brett Rufkahr from TIAA-CREF [Reuters] Who's Going to Work for Tony Blair Associates... Read more

Pimco hires Gordon from Goldman Sachs Asset Management to lead new emerging markets equity team that will grow to four to six people in London. GSAM promotes Flax to replace Gordon [Bloomberg News] Lazard said to hire Hasiotis from BofA as co-head of European PE advisory division, starting in November [Financial News] N.Y. Fed moves Dahlgren to head of bank supervision from head of special investments management group, starting in January when... Read more

If your career plans include working for a regulatory agency, SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro's House testimony this week is must reading. Major portions of her text detail SEC hiring plans and organizational changes the agency is making to implement the new Dodd-Frank reform law. Here's a rundown. The law adds or expands SEC responsibilities for over-the-counter derivatives, credit rating agencies and private funds. It requires the panel to promulgate a large... Read more

Jefferies hires Sandoli to head ratings advisory group within debt capital markets. He led Bear Stearns' leveraged finance ratings advisory business [Jefferies] Jefferies hires international equity sales trader in N.Y. and four Europe equity research sales pros in Boston and S.F. offices [Jefferies] JP Morgan Private Bank hires HSBC investment banker Bachy as senior capital advisor in Paris [Financial News] UBS hires Janedis from Wells Fargo as equity research analyst covering entertainment, advertising... Read more

UBP Asset Management hires Morgenthal from liquidating Ivy Asset Management as CEO, replacing Stadtmauer. Morgenthal also assumes role of CIO of alternatives for parent Union Bancaire Privee, replacing Sprung [Pensions & Investments] RiverFront Investment Group hires Nicholson from Wells Fargo Advisors as senior fixed income portfolio manager [RiverFront, via PRN] Mercer hires van Zyl from Towers Watson as senior consultant in financial strategy group in London [Mercer] Consorteum Holdings hires Sernova's Smeth... Read more

The financial reform bill that's heading for a Senate vote next week doesn't stop at America's borders. Regulators tell eFinancialCareers News its mandates likely extend beyond Wall Street to affect the U.S. operations of foreign banks and the foreign operations of U.S. banks. Therefore, unlike various rules associated with TARP and other U.S. bank bailout measures, market pros cannot escape the law's reach by jumping to a European-owned institution. A... Read more

Citing improved market conditions, mortgage insurer PMI adds sales executives for four U.S. regions [PMI Group] Deutsche Bank hires Nemes as global head of capital introductions, the same role she held at BofA Merrill Lynch. To start in October, she succeeds Capstick, who left Deutsche to become Bank of America's head of prime brokerage for EMEA [Financial News] Blackstone Group hires Simpson Thacher & Bartlett's M&A practice head Finley as chief legal... Read more

Goldman Sachs May Try Ad Campaign [WSJ The Source] News that the vampire scapegoat is considering ditching its old-line, media-shy PR strategy in favor of a high-visibility "corporate branding campaign" signals expanded career opportunities for media relations and investor relations pros - both at Goldman and elsewhere on Wall Street. Citadel Suffers Raft of London Departures [Financial News] Alex Maddox, the head of the Chicago-based hedge fund's European securitization desk left last... Read more

TIAA-CREF elevates Van Dolsen from EVP to COO and taps Adams, who joined in January from Fidelity, as EVP of new shared services group. Client Services EVP Beams is leaving the company [TIAA-CREF, via BW] Jefferies hires Cowen's Barish as senior equity research analyst covering restaurant sector from S.F. office. Farmer's coverage will shift to food and beverage companies [Jefferies, via BW] Jefferies hires Savelli-Timsit and Simon from ING as head and... Read more

The SEC's latest high-level recruits know more than where the bodies are buried. They know how to dissect the skyscrapers of financial engineering that the bodies lie concealed within. But although the regulatory agency has picked up several prominent names from the worlds of quantitative fund and risk management, it's having trouble "filling out more of its ranks with people with unconventional resumes," the Washington Post reports. Knowing what the government... Read more

SEC Is Hiring More Experts To Assess Complex Financial Systems [Washington Post] The agency is bringing in some of the industry's most highly respected quants, some trained in nuclear physics, together with experience assembling derivatives and running hedge funds. Cap Bankers’ Bonuses at Half Their Salary, EU Lawmakers Say [Bloomberg News] A committee of European Parliament lawmakers voted to cap bankers' bonuses at 50 percent of salary, cap directors' salaries at bailed-out banks... Read more