Lunchtime links: Bank of America attempts to ward off poachers

Bank of America has not had an easy time holding on to Merrill Lynch employees post-merger, and competitors have been poaching them left, right and centre.

It seems to have had enough. The Telegraph reports that it's gone down the slightly contentious route of offering retention bonuses that run into hundreds of thousands of pounds to traders in a bid to stop them jumping ship.

The logic, it says, is that BoA traders are being discouraged from taking risks meaning performance-related earning potential has been reduced. Base pay rises of up to 50%, a la UBS, are also on the cards.

But BoA isn't averse to poaching from competitors itself. As Financial News reports, it tapped Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse for two new managing directors to run its global FX options business. This follows a string of other senior hires.

Meanwhile, on the bonus front, Alistair Darling has softened his hardline stance on legislating bonuses - for now. He told the BBC (which came to our attention via Bloomberg) that the issue needs to be discussed with international counterparts at the G20 in September.

Will Wall Street's pay tsar flex his muscles? ( Reuters)

Private bankers look to emerging markets following UBS ruling (Bloomberg)

Lloyds' U-turn on C&G redundancies (Financial Times)

Lehman Brothers: The Movie (Deal Book)

Tattooed employees provide better service (Felix Salmon)

One way or another, banks will pay big bonuses (Telegraph)

From derivatives trader, to cabbie, to screenwriter (New York Post)

An artist's impression of a Goldman Sachs bonus securitization offering (ZeroHedge)