Lunchtime Links: If it's not Montag, will everyone leave?
Sad news for any Merrill Lynch bankers who were hoping that Ken Lewis's disappearance to form a mountain top colony of full beard growers would lead to one of their own kind being elevated as the great leader: it probably won't happen.
Thomas Montag, who looks like a likely kind of guy, having spent 22 years at Goldman Sachs before joining Merrill Lynch pre-BofA in January 2008 and then becoming head of the combined BofA Merrill investment bank, is now considered a long shot for replacing Ken according to DealBook. As if to prove this, Montag doesn't even feature in the FT's discussion on who will take Ken's place.
Instead, the FT suggests BofA might go for retail/commercial banking outsiders such as Al de Molina, Jim Hance, or Michael O'Neill, none of whom are particularly noted for their investment banking prowess (although Hance is at Carlyle and has sat on the board of Morgan Stanley). DealBook thinks BofA is likely to opt for Gregory Curl, BofA's chief risk officer, as an interim option. Neither commercial bankers nor chief risk officers are likely to appeal to the Merrill cohort. Lewis's disappearance could therefore pave the way for further defections, particularly if the rejected Montag decides his situation is untenable and leaves in a huff.
RBS has found a few risk and remuneration directors. (The Times)
FSA will vet banking directors. (Financial Times)
The trick of investment banking is to figure out a way to transfer risks to taxpayers. If you compete with other bankers, you drive down the profitability of your industry, and ultimately your own paycheck. (Clusterstock)
Barring a capital injection, Morgan Stanley would have died, then Goldman Sachs - and then General Electric. (Financial Times)
UK M&A up 28% in the third quarter. (The Times)
Wealthy foreigners in Switzerland up 15% last year. (Financial News)
One manager at the briefing said he had looked closely at a move -- but had been put off by the lack of nightlife in Zug. (Reuters)
The recession is over, but the depression has only just begun. (Creditwritedowns)
