Middle-market investment bank Jefferies is hoping it can leverage its rapid ascent in fixed income and commodities to gain a foothold in the futures business. The firm announced the launch of a futures division and named a 25-year veteran to lead it. Regarded as a leading player in high-yield debt, Jefferies has stepped up its fixed income and commodities businesses in recent years. Now, the firm has set its sights on... Read more

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

Bank of America is eliminating several hundred positions in global banking and markets. The cuts equal less than 5 percent of the unit's workforce, and those affected will be informed later this week. [Charlotte Observer] The FDIC said pay at U.S. banks may be scrutinized sooner than at foreign ones as new capital requirements are imposed. [Reuters] Twenty percent of hedge funds globally may close during the first quarter, accoring to Merrill... 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

Wall Street is doling out big bonuses and shed fewer jobs than expected in July, breathing fire into New York's economy. Financial firms have also begun hiring again, despite the stock market's uneven performance. [NY Times] The UK's Financial Services Authority has more earners making over £100,000, the result of recruitment of more experienced professionals. As of March, the FSA had 241 employees on staff with six figure incomes, compared with... 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

UBS Wealth Management Americas taps Tony Roth to lead new wealth planning and investment strategies group. He retains his current role as leader of portfolio advisory team [Investment News] Wachovia Global Securities Lending hires Citi's Ansell as SVP of sales for EMEA in London, Wells Capital Management's Buffum as regional sales executive in Chicago, ad State Street's Riffelmacher as marketing manager in Short Hills, N.J. [Wachovia Global Securities Lending, via BW] Bank... Read more

JPMorgan Names New Joint Leaders of U.S. Investment Unit [FT] JPMorgan promoted Jeff Urwin and Kevin Willsey to co-heads of North America investment banking, succeeding Doug Braunstein who was named CFO in June. The move completes the recasting of the investment bank division's executive ranks that began with the dismissal of Bill Winters as global securities co-head at the end of 2009. Main Street Lifts JPMorgan [WSJ] Second-quarter profit from JPMorgan's investment-banking division... Read more

Navigant Consulting hires Rothstein Kass's Bass as leader of U.S. banking and capital markets team, also hires three others for group [Navigant] BlackRock promotes Latham to global head of iShares ETF business from North American head, as international iShares chief Tobin will leave firm. New regional heads are Nick Good in Asia, Linhares in EMEA and Gamba in Latin America [Bloomberg News] BofA hires two Fidelity group retirement executives: Linton as head... 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

JPMorgan Names Braunstein C.F.O. in Shake-Up [Dealbook] JPMorgan Chase continued to shuffle its top management ranks, including by appointing one of its most senior investment bankers as its new chief financial officer. Douglas L. Braunstein, currently the head of investment banking for the Americas, will replace Michael Cavanagh as JPMorgan’s financial chief. Why Wall Street’s Second Quarter Earnings Are Going to Stink [DealJournal] Consider these numbers from Credit Suisse Group and Dealogic:... Read more

HSBC has made a number of senior-level hires recently as it expands its investment banking and markets business. The London-based global bank's latest catch is Giles Harrison, who reportedly joined in New York as global co-head of the financial institutions (FIG) banking group. The group's other co-head, Mark Stadler, is based in London. Harrison previously headed Nomura's Europe FIG group and held the same role at Lehman Brothers. He left Nomura... 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

While Congress and customers suffering buyer's remorse zero in on Wall Street's derivatives sales practices, banks themselves are weighing changes that would shrink career opportunities for sales professionals on fixed-income derivatives desks. The largest swaps dealers are moving to refine definitions of which instruments are suitable for different classes of institutional customers, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports. If an instrument is not suitable for a particular customer, then a dealer cannot legally sell... Read more

TD Bank's departing Chief Economist Don Drummond has some unusual advice for new graduates eyeing careers in economics: At this stage, mastering economic theory is more important than gaining practical experience. And the way to do that is to go straight from an undergrad degree to a Master's, as Drummond himself did more than 30 years ago. Drummond retires at the end of June after 10 years with TD bank preceded... Read more

The Massachusetts state pension fund is the latest to see an executive bolt to the private sector amid politically motivated attacks on public fund managers' pay structure. Michael Travaglini cited "efforts by legislators to limit what he and his staff can earn" when revealing he will quit next month after six years as executive director of the $44 billion Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management, the Boston Globe reports. Travaglini is joining... Read more

Once upon a time, the big three credit rating firms were a primary route to a career as a credit analyst on Wall Street or the buy-side. That could change if powerful new players jump into the ratings business. First came reports Bloomberg is gearing up a credit ratings-like service. Now comes word that two of accounting's Big Four are at least thinking about it. The Financial Times reports: KPMG and PwC,... Read more