More Chartered Financial Analyst candidates passed the Level 3 exam this year compared to last, according to the CFA Institute, Bloomberg News reports. The Institute says 51% of applicants passed the exam, compared to 46% last year. Previously, the Institute said 39% passed Level 1 and 43% passed Level 2. A record 144,900 candidates registered to take the three CFA exams in June, aiming to gain a hiring edge after the... Read more

As financial markets continue their roller-coaster ride, experts are pondering whether the volatility and increased volume will help or hurt Wall Street trading profits, Bloomberg reports. The news wire cites one analyst who believes that banks can profit if they make the right bets, and another who argues that recent developments could cause “market-making pain” and increase investors’ risk aversion. The Wall Street Journal meanwhile, debates the same question and... Read more

Finding a great job in the financial markets can be challenging in the best of times, but when Wall Street firms announce the kind of headcount reductions we’ve been seeing lately the search becomes down right daunting. And according to a survey eFinancialCareers conducted this month with financial professionals, recruiters may not really help job seekers all that much either. The survey found that while nearly four out of five (78%)... Read more

As they look to woo hedge fund clients, some of the biggest players are actively expanding prime broker biz and adding to personnel. In a Q2 2011 Earnings Call, JPMorgan Chase’s CFO Douglas L. Braunstein announced the launch of prime brokerage services in Asia for early 2012. In June, JPMorgan Chase rolledout its prime brokerage services for European hedge funds. But other players gave off mixed signals. While Nomura is... Read more

China Europe International Business School’s new dean aims to make the school a top 10 research institute. John Quelch, who was former deal of the London Business School, and a senior associate dean of Harvard Business School, aims to build the brand, turn a profit on the school’s publishing division, and is current recurring 30 full-time faculty to the current 65 professors, according to Fortune. “There is a large number... 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

HighTower Advisers poaches Merrill Lynch private bankers with more than $1 billion in assets. [Reuters] Paulson, BlackRock, UBS hire UK mining analysts to boost industry coverage. [Bloomberg] Keating Investments hires former Oppenheimer analyst to origination team. [Biz Journals] Merrill Lynch hires six financial advisers in California, Pennsylvania, Texas. [Investment News] Wells Fargo nabs Weissman, Eppler from Telemus Investment Brokers. [Investment News] UBS advisers Wright and Murphy leave to join Wells Fargo wealth... Read more

HSBC plans to lay off 30,000 employees, or about 10% of its workforce, many in the U.S., in an effort to boost its profits, The New York Times and other media reported. Europe’s largest bank also announced plans to sell 195 branches in New York State to First Niagara Financial Group for $1 billion. The news comes as the bank reveals details of a previously announced strategy to cut costs... Read more

Traders on Goldman Sachs’ North American government bonds and derivatives desk are leaving the firm en masse, Reuters reports. The news wire says more than a dozen traders have left “as the bank takes fewer risks and big bonuses for ambitious traders dry up.” Departing traders have joined Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Nomura, Jefferies and JP Morgan. Goldman Sachs has been favoring sales people recently, giving promotions and raises... Read more

First it was hedge fund veteran George Soros, who announced that he was returning money to outside investors and, in effect, getting out of the hedge fund business. Then came word that SAC Capital, the hedge fund run by Steve Cohen, had soft-closed his flagship funds, meaning he is retaining his outside investors but is not taking additional new capital. What's behind this retrenchment among these top hedge fund managers?... 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

George Soros, one of the first hedge fund managers and perhaps the world’s most famous, has announced he is closing his fund to outside investors, Reuters reports. He will return assets currently under management to his clients and will focus on managing his family money. Best known for a daring, successful market bet against the Bank of England in the 1990s, and for his extensive philanthropic efforts, Soros says he... 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

Life has become very tough for Wall Street interns. Once showered with perks and time off, interns are now forced to work excessive hours and forego extravagant parties, DealBook reports. Blame weaker bank earnings and recent layoffs. Although interns have always been expected to work hard for the privilege of putting Wall Street on their resumes, the hours are now more gruelling than ever. DealBook quotes one intern who worked... 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

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