Lunchtime Links: JPMorgan withholds $2.3m bonus, citing solicitation

Gardening leave exists for a reason. Most banks' contracts state that after leaving, an employee is unable to work for a competitor and solicit his/her former clients for a specified period of time. It appears that Patrik Edsparr may have overlooked this.

On Friday (admittedly, some time ago now), Bloomberg reported that Edsparr is suing JPMorgan in London courts for failing to pay a $2.3m bonus due to what it describes as, "an unparticularized allegation of violation of non-solicitation agreements contained in unidentified agreements." Edsparr's move is the latest in a series of altercations between JPMorgan and Citadel, and may make the hedge fund which increasingly resembles an investment bank think twice about putting its new hires to work too soon in future.

10 out of 19 banks fail the stress tests. JPM and Goldman likely to be winners. (Clusterstock)

Citi and BofA looking at raising $10bn before stress test results announced. (Financial Times)

Bank of America not raising capital after all. (Clusterstock)

Commission-based bonuses coming at Citigroup? (DealBook)

JPMorgan is planning to expand investment banking, asset management and treasury and securities services internationally. (Bloomberg)

Dimon says JPMorgan may be asked to buy more banks. (CNBC)

Investment banks' prop trading down 50% since March last year. (Financial News)

Overall, Wholesale Banking performance in the first quarter has been excellent,

particularly given the challenging market conditions. (Standard Chartered)

Boutique firm Richmond Park Partners hires ex-Goldman/Barclays banker as head of FIG. (Financial News)

Equity salespeople are hot. (Financial News)

Staff at gov-backed poverty fund paid on a par with staff at Goldman Sachs. (The Times)

Idle NYSE floor traders turn to gin rummy to pass the time. (The Times)

UBS issuing swine flu kits to its employees. (Dealbreaker)

UBS encouraging incoming class to defer. (Dealbreaker)

Is that a French banker asleep at the desk? (Wall Street Journal)

Jamie Dimon on Twitter? People often ask me why I took the TARP even though we weren't doing that bad. Well it's a bit like eating dessert even though you're full. (Twitter)