Lunchtime Links: Goldman Sachs needs more collaboration, more teamwork and some technology improvements

According to urban myth, employees of Goldman Sachs are as a single entity channelling the spirit of Marcus Goldman. They are also highly collaborative, prone to referring to themselves as 'we' and the beneficiaries of one of the most envied technology platforms on the planet.

Now, Sergey Aleynikov has shattered the fantasy. Sergey, who is currently being tried in the US for allegedly trying to steal some of Goldman's code, has accused Goldman of being a self-interested kind of place which could benefit from a little technology upgrading.

This was all said in an exit interview when Sergey was still under the impression that he was about to leave for a $1.15m pay package at Teza Technologies, so it may have been uttered in bad faith. However, recruiters working with algo traders such as Sergey say banks' inadequate technology platforms are a frequent source of discontent. Maybe Goldman is no different.

Four top executives and a portfolio manager ejected from Bluecrest. (FinAlternatives)

JPMorgan's making redundancies from its London base metals team. (MetalBulletin)

Gartmore's making 30 people redundant. (TheTimes)

VTB has turned a loss of 45.5bn roubles into a profit of 39.8bn roubles. (Bloomberg)

"The competence of RBS individuals can, and will, be taken into account in any future applications made by them to work at FSA-regulated firms." (Guardian)

Irish banks are among the leading lenders to Portugal, Greece and Spain. (Financial Times)

EU banks' cross border loan exposures. (Financial Times)

CEO of Credit Agricole CIB has stepped down. (Wall Street Journal)

Now Germany effectively has a veto on the provision of cheap and endless ECB credit. (Baseline Scenario)

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays,Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, Lloyds, Morgan Stanley, Nationwide, RBS, Santander, Standard Charteredand UBS have signed up to the new code on tax avoidance, but don't know what it means. (Financial News)

"Surely it is far better to inconvenience 1,000 [rich] people than destroy millions of lives." (Guardian)

How to get out and where to go when you do. (ZeroHedge)