Lunchtime Links: Hiring at BofA and Morgan Stanley amidst signs that it's still harder to get a job in London than it was

10 May 2010

2 minute read

Lunchtime Links: Hiring at BofA and Morgan Stanley amidst signs that it's still harder to get a job in London than it was

Financial News has unearthed two big hiring stories. In one, it says Morgan Stanley's hired 10 people for European credit sales and trading in the past two months. In the other, it says BofA Merrill Lynch intends to hire between five and seven 'key revenue generators' in M&A, each of whom is likely to bring two or three people with them, implying that it wants as many as 28 new M&A bankers, soon.

We reported that BofA wanted ' tens' of junior M&A bankers back in March. In fact, it appears to be hiring across the board.

But despite the good hiring news from BofA and MS, there are indications that getting a job in London remains harder than it used to be.

IMAS Corporate Finance has produced some research showing that the number of new FSA approved persons in Q1 2010 was 30% lower than in 2009 and 2008.

FSA Approved persons

Source: IMAS Corporate Finance

The only consolation, as IMAS points out, is the number of new approved persons didn't follow its historical trend and decrease dramatically in Q1 compared to Q4. The FSA's figures also cover only people in approved functions, thereby excluding many salespeople and traders who may have experienced an unregistered surge in employability.

BofA has poached a new head of financial sponsors from Deutsche. (Reuters)

The $700bn TARP bill was initially voted down by the House of Representatives, and this deal has to be ratified by not one but many different legislatures. (Reuters)

This is just another example of a short-term, leveraged solution, that merely adds to the burden of future problems. (Alphaville)

Do not trade in this broken market, do not hold your money in a bank as they are all now one hour away from a terminal bank run. (ZeroHedge)

Europe is moving ahead with tough hedge fund rules. (Dealbreaker)

Trades of a lifetime, in 20 minutes. (DealBook)

Goldman faces a $1bn fine to put an end to its Abacus issues. (Telegraph)

More Goldman CDO litigation is coming. (BusinessInsider)

Goldman Sachs currently employs 242 lawyers and Lloyd Blankfein shops at Walmart. (WSJ)

Time to turn Scotland into a tax haven (The Times)

Unofficial buyside training manual. (Traders' Magazine)

Adderall addiction. (Daily Beast)