Lunchtime links: Compensation up, headcount down at JPMorgan i-bank
JPMorgan's $2.1bn first quarter profit might be 12.5% lower than Q1 2008 (even if it did beat analyst expectations), but its investment banking darlings brought in record revenues of over $8.3bn - an increase of $3bn on last year - with its debt team doing particularly well.
Debt underwriting fees were up by 63%, equity market revenue was a record $1.8bn and it is ranked number one for global debt, equity and equity related volumes and investment banking fees.
Not surprisingly, performance-related pay has surged. The investment bank paid out over $3.3bn in compensation expense in the first quarter - up from $1.2bn this time last year, and variable pay surged by 87%. This means an average payout (we know you love these) of $127.4k.
Heady times in the investment bank? Well, yes, for some. But as the FT reported at the end of March, 2,000 redundancies are on the cards by the end of this year, primary coming from prime brokerage as well as other areas of the investment bank. Headcount figures show this is already well underway - 26,142 people are now employed in JPMorgan's i-banking division, down from 27,938 in Q4 2008.
In praise of Jamie Dimon (ABC News)
Retail not looking so good for JPM though (Reuters)
Bad news for UBS - it ain't over yet (Wall Street Journal)
RBS and Lloyds staff to receive bonuses immediately (Daily Mail)
Top performing equities manager quits after sliding down the league tables (Financial News)
Bonuses down, profit share cut and pay rises ruled out for most at Fidelity (Bloomberg)
Will US banks pass the stress test? (Times)
An interactive map of vanishing US employment (Slate)
The man who made 100 staff millionaires returns with new venture (Independent)
Police squads move to tackle crime in City (Financial Times)
Stanford case receiver wants $40m in broker bonuses back (Financial Times)
Nomura cuts 50 i-banking jobs in Asia (Bloomberg)
$55.1m bill from lawyers working on Lehman (Wall Street Journal)
"It is time to lay down tough new rules of the road for Wall Street to ensure that we never find ourselves here again." (Dealbook)
More in-house lawyers to go? (Above the Law)
