Lunchtime Links: Forget the 17,000 financial services redundancies, your job looks safe

If you're of a nervous disposition, you could have been forgiven for feeling a little anxious this morning. According to the latest financial services survey by PWC and the CBI, there have been 10,000 financial services job cuts already this year, and a further 7,000 are likely between now and June.

Fortunately, however, most people visiting this site need not worry.

A closer look at the PWC survey suggests jobs in wholesale financial services are fine. It's retail financial services that's the problem.

Far from firing, wholesale firms are, in fact, hiring. On balance, 80% of the (six) securities trading firms interviewed, said they'd increased headcount in the past three months, and 13% said they were likely to increase headcount further between now and June. Investment managers were even more exuberant: a balance of 12% said they'd increased headcount over the past three months; 94% said they planned to increase it in the next three.

In retail financial services, however, the outlook is considerably more gloomy. A balance of 29% of retail banks, 71% of building societies, and 84% of life insurers told PWC and the CBI they expect to trim headcount before the first half of 2010 is up.

HSBC expects to hire 10 equities traders this year; BarCap expects to hire 60-80. (Financial News)

Nomura's global-equities business plans to hire more than 300 people in the U.S., Asia and Europe in coming months. (Wall Street Journal)

Nomura is still recruiting and its European workforce has grown from 1,500 to 4,500. (The Times)

Standard Chartered plans to double its equities team. (Bloomberg)

RBS staff have received a lump sum payment equal to 5% of their salary, for 'benefits' dating back to 2009. (Telegraph)

The loss of up to 3,000 jobs in City hedge funds and private equity firms is a price worth paying for tougher rules on the sector, says a French MEP. (Guardian)

"It was around 2003 that certain dubious hedge fund clients began to ask me quite blatantly for inside information." (Guardian)

If you were to risk 100,000 on an inside trade, you would probably make only about 5,000 profit. (TheTimes)

Alleged insider traders made 20m. (Financial Times)

An MBA which takes 8 weekends. (The Times)

Cockroach-nurturing Russian maths genius foregoes $1m. (Telegraph)

Credit Suisse made $23.7m in loans to 9 directors last year. (DealBook)

Strange but true: Liverpool has become a UK wealth management hub. (Wealth Bulletin)

Teenage rejection is good for you: look at Warren Buffett. (WSJ)