Lunchtime Links: How to leave banking without experiencing a traumatic reduction in pay

This may not come as news to everyone, but it appears you can earn quite good money in advertising.

According to the Evening Standard, some senior people in the advertising industry are paid comparably with associate-level investment bankers.

If you want to leave banking and still want to earn good money, you may therefore want to avail yourself of the advertising career options below. If successful, you will not be on a par with the highest earning bankers, but you will be earning six figures - assuming you can persuade a creative agency your financial services experience is valid.

Global head of an advertising agency: 500-1m salary; 188k bonus

CEO of a UK creative agency: 250-350k salary; 75k bonus

CEO of a UK media-buying agency: 200-250k salary; 56k bonus

Planning director: 100-150k salary; 31k bonus

Heads of department: 150k salary; 37.5k bonus

Associate directors: 75-120k salary; 24k bonus

Barclays paid five mysterious 'executives' between 5.2m and 13.8m. (BBC)

Yesterday, I had some 31 year old trader telling me he was worth 5m a year. I told him he was worth about 20k. (Fintag)

Actually, Bob Diamond's bonus is a mere 6.5m. (WSJ)

In other walks of life, people take pride in their work because of what they do, not because of what they are paid. (Independent)

Don't believe the myth that Barclays didn't benefit from state support. (NewStatesman)

Bob Diamond says Peter Mandelson is one of the smartest people he's met. (Telegraph)

HSBC saves money by not having lots of expensive and smug corporate financiers. (Financial News)

Citigroup lost money on 55 trading days last year, more than any other US bank. It also made no money at all from trading in the fourth quarter. (Financial News)

BarCap has rehired Martin Attea (who went to Morgan Stanley) as a senior ABS originator in the US. (Reuters)

UBS head of prime brokerage is joining BofA. (Marketwatch)

BofA has cut first quarter estimates for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup. (Forbes)

MF Global has hired Richard Moore, a former head of fixed income at Citigroup, to run its business in Europe. (Financial News)

Mervyn King says banks still need reforming and that manufacturers are more moral. (The Times)

Mervyn King says bankers exploit gullible customers. Nick Clegg says he's angry about bonuses. (Guardian)

The Guardian points out that bankers aren't criminals. (Guardian)

The FT's decline. (Reuters)

One of the UK's leading female fund managers was once mistaken for a tea lady. (Telegraph)

What is true is that people who accumulate very large sums tend to think they are brilliant. (Telegraph)