In return for cooperation on Greek debt, banks said to be expecting EU concessions on compensation Mercer produced some research suggesting banks in Europe are at a disadvantage when it comes to pay. Not only are banks in Europe obliged to defer a higher proportion of their bonuses, but they must do so for longer than banks in the US. To make matters worse, the EU has indicated it might like... 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

The earnings forecast for Wall Street’s biggest firms is looking dire. Analysts are slashing their second quarter projections for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and other firms, citing revenue declines of a third or more in bond, currency and commodity trading, Reuters reports. “Slow economic growth, skittish trading clients and regulatory worries that just won't go away -- the second quarter has been a punishing one for Wall Street's top investment... 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

Wall Street has once again proved its clout in Congress, New York Times’ DealBook reports. Wall Street lobbyists inserted a small provision in a bill that was recently passed, allowing banks to avoid paying for certain patents that relate to their “business methods,” the article says. “The legislation was initially introduced by Senator Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat, with an even narrower view: to protect the interests of... Read more

Congress enacted Dodd-Frank, which created the Financial Stability Oversight Council, to guard against a recurrence of the financial crisis and to protect American taxpayers. The initial intent of this legislation was to coordinate various regulatory agencies and instill joint accountability for the stability of the financial system. However, with today’s highly-interconnected global financial markets, there is a risk of over-regulation or what some are calling "regulatory arbitrage" that carries with... Read more

Wall Street banks are under pressure to cut more jobs as trading revenue falls, Reuters reports. At Deutsche Bank, for example, trading volumes have fallen 20-40 percent this quarter, with similar declines seen across the investment banking industry. “If the trading business hasn’t rebounded by September, Wall Street’s elevators will be full of former employees with cardboard boxes heading down and out for good,” the article says. However, Wall Street... Read more

The FINRA rule 1230(b)(6) requiring operations professionals at broker-dealers to register their activities, take qualifying exams and follow through on continuing education is surely a thorny subject. But the SEC has pushed forward and approved it. It’s not a surprise that the industry isn’t looking forward to dealing with additional regulations and certifications. Smaller firms are taking issue with the additional costs and time involved in the process. The effective... Read more

MBAs who earned their degrees from top schools like Harvard and Wharton earn more than $1 million than their peers over 20 years, according to a BusinessWeek story . Those earning MBAs from the 57 top programs earned $2.4 million over a 20-year career. Harvard grads topped the ranking with $3.6 million in salary and bonuses, while the University at Buffalo brought its alumni about $1.7 million. Experts explain the... Read more

Citi hired James Glerum the co-head of UBS’s Midwestern operations and its head of diversified industrials, and Cary Kochman, co-head of global mergers and acquisitions at UBS. [DealBook] JPMorgan Chase commercial-banking chief Todd Maclin and international operations head Heidi Miller are likely to step down from their posts within month. [Bloomberg] Glenn Tilton was named chairman of JPMorgan Chase's Midwest business, succeeding William M. Daley, who left the bank to... Read more

As the Federal Reserve Bank of New York pushes ahead with its Dodd-Frank mandates, the souped up supervision division, newly renamed the Financial Institution Supervision Group (FISG), is on the lookout for a few good men and women. Back in March, FISG head Sarah Dahlgren noted the need to increase resources. And now word is out that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s supervisory division is on the lookout... Read more

The UK’s five-largest banks—RBS, Llyods, Standard Chartered, HSBC and Barclays— have eliminated more than 103,000 jobs – or 11% of their headcount -- since 2008, with more to come, according to a Bloomberg story. At least 34,500 of the cuts were made in Britain, and the biggest layoffs were at the government assisted RBS and Llyods. One analyst summed up the reason: “The underlying trend is trying to make the... Read more

Turnaround firms like Alvarez & Marsa and FTI Consulting are finding opportunities in ailing local governments and school districts, according to the Wall Street Journal. Conway MacKenzie expects three times the number of such projects as 18 months ago, as “the slowly improving economy may help some state and local governments solve short-term revenue-and-spending imbalances, municipalities with so-called structural issues, like high pension liabilities, shrinking tax bases or significant population... Read more

Sometimes using recruiters works better than applying directly to banks. And if you put in extra effort when choosing your consultants, your career could benefit. Here are some reasons why. 1) Screen and select There’s a limited number of large financial services firms and it’s difficult to look into the quality of their internal hiring teams. But recruitment firms are comparatively plentiful, so you should at least be able to find... Read more

Legg Mason’s head of U.S. broker-dealer sales Joe Lohrer is leaving the firm for Blackstone—the latest in a string of departures from the asset management company, Investment News reports. Lohrer, a 25 year veteran of the firm, will be replaced by Bryan Ward, head of internal sales, while Benji Baer, head of U.S. intermediary marketing, is leaving the firm after a seven-year stint for J.P. Morgan Asset Management as a... Read more

M&A activity between developed and emerging markets is nearing record highs, according to the Wall St. Journal. Acquisitions or mergers of emerging market companies led by those in developed economies stands at $76.3 billion year-to-date, while emerging market outbound M&A activity stands at $56.1 billion—the second highest on record, and representing 21 percent of all M&A volume by emerging markets. Oil is the strongest sector, followed by health care and... Read more

Goldman’s recent history of unsavory behavior has left a sour taste in investors’ mouths – but that doesn’t stop them from trusting the bank with their money, according to a recent Bloomberg poll . In a survey of traders, investors and analysts, 54% said they had a negative opinion of the venerable New York firm – double the unfavorable opinion rating for JPMorgan chase. However, just a month after a... Read more

HSBC plans to close offices and cut headcount in an effort to cut costs by as much as $3.5 billion over the next three years to improve profitability, which it said could be hurt by stricter financial regulation, according to BusinessWeek and DealBook. One of the biggest European banks, HSBC said it would focus on commercial banking activities and wealth management, while scaling back its retail banking operations to the... Read more

While the Bloomberg BusinessWeek annual undergraduate business school ranking turned out few surprises, a peek into the student-survey based rankings of 139 of the nation’s undergrad programs had a few unexpected results. The article today states: “In the recent ranking, you would assume that Rensselaer Polytechnic's Lally School of Management and Technology, ranked No.43, is a middle-of-the-pack business program. You wouldn't know that the school ranks No.1 in both... Read more