The Middle East is lagging behind other major centres for Islamic finance when it comes to employing female executives and scholars, which is discouraging women from entering the sector lower down the ranks. Malaysia, one of the world's largest Islamic finance centres, is setting the pace when it comes to appointing women scholars and executives, according to Bloomberg, with six female members of its 35-strong Shariah Advisory Board. The Middle East... Read more

If you're an energy trader, it's a safe bet that you're a bit worried about your job. Overall, due to tech and the big players taking over, there's fewer jobs. Plus, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is just about ready to announce position limits for physical commodity derivatives as mandated by Dodd-Frank. That, and expected regulation in the EU, is sure to shake things up. "There's been some downsizing already, but... Read more

Finance Tech Jobs Flee Japan Finance tech jobs in Japan have been steadily moving to other parts of Asia for some time, and now it seems Tokyo is losing out to Hong Kong and Singapore in more sectors than ever before. [Japan] BNY Mellon Enters Canada BNY Mellon is making its first foray into Canada’s wealth management market, hoping to tap into the fifth-largest population of millionaires worldwide with the planned acquisition of... 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

G2 Investment Group, which formed a joint venture with Forbes in private equity and hedge funds, hired former Lehman Brothers exec Robert Cox, along with Terri Kahan, Norris Lam and David Martus. [Bloomberg] Fund of Fund Meridian Capital Partners named Mark Gordon director of risk management. [Finalternatives] Wells Fargo named Brian Abrahams as a director and senior analyst covering biotech [BusinessWire] Citigroup hired Gage Olcott as head of its retail structured-note sales in... Read more

The hiring outlook at campuses across the U.S. has plunged since August, according to a widely cited survey of employers. Although 146 companies polled this month by the National Association of Colleges and Employers said they plan to hire slightly more graduates (1.3 percent ) in 2009 than they hired this year, the same group had projected a 6.1 percent rise when surveyed just two months earlier, according to The Wall... Read more

The ICMA Centre, a financial services-focused business school attached to the UK’s University of Reading, received a £5m (€7.4m) grant to finance the expansion of its teaching facilities this month. The endowment was a gift from the centre’s benefactor and namesake, the International Capital Markets Association. But Reading is not the only university to run specialist finance courses with outside help. In 2002, Cass Business School, part of the City University,... Read more