US banks shelling out more to land top grads
(BLOOMBERG) - Much of Mr Michael Lewis' graphic description of life for junior bankers in the early 1980s still rings true today. Fresh college grads "gave themselves over entirely" to firms, working so many nights and weekends that one friend learnt to nap on the office toilet, the author recalled in his book Liar's Poker. But one thing is changing fast: The pay. A recent wave of raises meant to address complaints that rookie bankers, known as analysts, work too hard for too little means this year's newbies will get salaries of at least US$100,000 (S$133,900), before five-figure bonuses. Amid an escalating debate over income inequality, junior bankers are set to earn almost five times - or more - the median wage of fellow young college graduates, data from the United States Census Bureau shows. Back when Mr Lewis comically bombed his initial interviews to join Wall Street, he was chasing the prospect of earning what he saw as a whopping US$25,000 salary, about twice the median then. Adjusted for inflation, it translates to roughly US$72,000 now. After junior bankers were pressed to do even more during the coronavirus pandemic, virtually every firm - including Goldman Sachs, JPMorg...
Six Credit Suisse bankers exit as post-Archegos defections mount
NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) - A half-dozen senior Credit Suisse Group bankers have left the firm in recent weeks, the latest in a raft of defections following the implosion of Archegos Capital Management and uncertainty about future bonuses. Jason Wortendyke, global co-head of mobility and services, rejoined Citigroup to run diversified industrials along with Francis Tucci, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg News. Mr Wortendyke will also co-head the Chicago office alongside Matt Musa. Mr Wortendyke worked at Citigroup in London and Hong Kong before joining Credit Suisse. Other departures include New York-based Ihsan Essaid, Credit Suisse's head of media and telecommunications mergers and acquisitions, and San Francisco-based Kamal Ahmed, a managing director focused on semiconductors in the firm's technology investment-banking group. Both are joining Barclays, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Mr Essaid will be co-head of mergers and acquisitions in the Americas and Mr Ahmed will be global head of semiconductor investment banking. Credit Suisse was the biggest loser when the world's top investment banks raced to exit trading positions as Archegos collapsed, pushing it in...