J.P. Morgan Chase hires Paul Brown from Merrill Lynch to join insurance team. [DealBook] Switzerland’s Jabre Capital hires Mona El Isa from Goldman Sachs to manage equity portfolio. [eFinancial News] Barclays names Huang Yiping chief economist for emerging Asia. [Wall Street Journal] CIT Group promotes Nelson Chai as president. [b] Citigroup names Bassam Salem to run private banking in Asia-Pacific. [Wall Street Journal] RBC Capital names Frederic Laine head of fixed income... Read more

The leaders of two of the country's largest banks, Bank of America and Citibank reached out to their employees this week with essentially the same message: Our stocks may be weak but our companies are strong. Amazingly, it appears that message got to investors as well since both stocks bounced back yesterday after taking a huge beating in Monday's sell off. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan distributed a memo after... Read more

Does your resume say, “I can handle a financial crisis?” If not, you may want to get cracking, and insert that skill and fast. It’s time—right now—to update your resume, and detail all the things you have done to weather previous downturns. That's the humble opinion of San Francisco-based career coach and jobs transition specialist Don Asher, author of several books including, Who Gets Promoted, Who Doesn’t, and Why. Asher believes a... Read more

The recent market slump and downgrade of the United State’s credit rating has investors who bet on mergers and acquisitions scrambling, as agreed-upon prices are no longer valid, according to Reuters. The news service quoted one merger arbritrageur saying that the spreads of “anything with risk and financing is widening out more. The guys doing LBOs -- if any merger agreement has any hint of a crack in it with... Read more

Despite all the gloomy headlines about layoffs in the financial markets, there is some positive news for those of you who chose to follow a financial career path. A new survey released today shows that as a group, financial professionals received higher pay raises than their white collar counterparts in other industries. According to the survey conducted by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), financial executives saw their pay increases hitting... Read more

It was the thud heard round the street, and this weekend’s S&P downgrade of the U.S. long-term sovereign credit rating left many wondering what the impact would be on the economy. The experts are divided on the immediate effect on interest rates. Certainly, worries about Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHLB are very real, given their downgrade too. While the drop from the top triple-A status to AA+ was a... Read more

HSBC Holdings is expected to lay off more than 10,000 workers as it aims to cut costs by up to $3.5 billion a year, Reuters says, citing a report by Sky News. HSBC would not confirm the report, but notes that HSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver announced in May an expansive plan to reduce expenses by pulling out of dozens of countries and concentrating on core competencies. The bank currently employs... Read more

The rallying cry during the next presidential election could well be, "It's the jobs, stupid!" As earnings season chugs along Corporate America is boasting record profits, primarily due to robust growth outside the U.S. such as Asia and China in particular. Granted, the financial sector hasn't been faring so well of late, but according to Reuters, 78 percent of companies in the S&P 500 index have reported second quarter earnings that... Read more

Bank of America’s reported loss this week of $8.8 billion for the second quarter of the year was eye-opening, but not unexpected, and in fact, some experts were predicting losses just slightly worse than the company’s 90-cent per share decline. The losses stem from mortgage-related charges which have put the squeeze on “a very successful bank” in terms of BofA’s investment banking, private wealth management and corporate lending businesses, says Richard... Read more

Wells Fargo plans to cut costs by 12 percent before the end of 2012, MarketWatch and other media report. The San Francisco-based bank announced earlier this year it would begin to cut costs and has already shut down parts of its mortgage lending business and wealth management business. Many of the savings will come as the firm completes the integration of Wachovia, Marketwatch reports. In the second quarter, expenses... Read more

Goldman Sachs set aside less compensation for its employees in the first six months of 2011 than it did in the same period a year ago, Bloomberg and other media report. The Wall Street firm announced Goldman set aside $8.44 billion for its compensation pool, 9 percent less than a year ago, after reporting second quarter earnings of $1.85 per share, 42 cents below analyst expectations. “The expense,... Read more

MBA grads and mid-career professionals remain drawn to the big bucks and prestige promised in the alternative investing and investment banking space. But the interest would seem to belie what’s actually happening in the sector, as jobs there continue to shrink. Mike McNamara, regional director for Accounting Principals, tells eFinancialCareers that a better and safer bet would be to look to the growing opportunities in corporate finance. The CPA, in... Read more

The Securities Industry Financial Markets Association, which is better known as SIFMA, held a conference in New York this week to explore among other things, the future of the financial sector in an environment dominated by regulation stemming from the one-year-old Dodd-Frank bill. Over 300 new rules and regulations are contained within that legislation and so far only about one fifth have been implemented. Deadlines for others have been missed... Read more

The expected cost of new regulations being implemented from financial reform was cited at the SIFMA Dodd-Frank impact Analysis conference as one reason banks are reluctant create new jobs. "There's a capital strike going on in corporate America," said Larry Kudlow, economist and host of the CNBC program, "The Kudlow Report." Speaking at the conference, Kudlow went on to say banks are "afraid to take the risk of hiring until... Read more

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating client information tied to Bank of America’s $8.5 billion mortgage settlement, Bloomberg and other media report, indicating that the deal may be challenged in court. Schneiderman is inquiring whether public agencies or state-affiliated pension funds were included in the settlement. There already have been objections to the settlement from mortgage bond investors who complained about the fairness of the deal, The... Read more

The idea of taking a pay cut is anathema for all working professionals—especially for finance execs used to handsome compensation packages. But many are finding their paychecks and pocketbooks to be much leaner this year. For those impacted by a slash in pay, unlike before, most are choosing to stay put, says Ken Murray, president of Mercury Partners, an executive search practice for front office finance professionals. He says it’s... Read more

As the dismal jobs numbers came out today showing unemployment at 9.2 percent, investors responded by selling off stocks. But not all Wall Street firms were cringing at the news of more job losses. In fact two financial giants are actually doing something about it. Bank of America/Merrill Lynch is joining forces with Prologis and NRG Energy to help finance a solar energy project that will create an estimated 10,000 jobs... Read more

JP Morgan Chase is about to overtake Bank of America as the nation’s biggest bank. But that’s not because it’s growing so quickly. It’s just shrinking less than its rival, Reuters reports, noting that both firms are slimming down as they get rid of excess still left from the boom years. “If JPMorgan becomes the biggest, chief executive Jamie Dimon could see the validation of his cautious management before and... Read more

Sometime in the past year or so it became important to be creative when applying for a job. That doesn't mean you can get creative with your resume by embellishing some of your achievements. What that means is the people looking to hire you, especially Investment Banking types, are seeking out those applicants who approach problems creatively. In fact, recent studies have shown that creativity is quickly becoming one of... Read more

Throughout life, there is always a celebrated group of financial professionals who succeed while many others fail. It doesn’t matter if you’re working in M&A, or Asset Management, whether you’re a risk manager or a Wealth Advisor, the financial services sector is one of the most competitive industries on the planet and it can be divided into two distinct groups, the winners and the losers. The questions are what is... Read more