Lunchtime Links: MDs account for 40% of compensation but are only 15% of staff

Brad Hintz, the former Lehman CFO-turned analyst at Bernstein Research, thinks expensive senior people are going to be at the forefront of the coming culling, especially if they have the great misfortune to be working in fixed income.

"You don't have to fire lots of people, you just need to fire expensive people," Hintz has been telling Bloomberg. Right now, says Hintz, 40% of compensation costs go to MDs, even though they're only about 15% of total staff.

In future, he says MDs will only be 10% of the total and that the shape of the pyramid will "change."

This change is likely to be most notable in fixed income, where Citigroup analysts are now predicting trading revenues fell 30% quarter-on-quarter over the past three months.

JPMorgan has hired a dozen senior prime brokerage bankers so far this year. (Financial Times)

Bankers that have left claim that UBS is still paying below-market bonuses. (Financial Times)

Two senior risk arbitrage traders have left UBS too. (WSJ)

Jefferies' shadow on Wall Street. (NY Times)

Sales of gold coins have soared as Greek savers seek a safe and fungible source of value. (Financial Times)

Edward Bonham Carter, Jupiter's chief executive, sold shares worth 1.35m. (Telegraph)

Former BAML banker turned author has made $35k since January. (Bloomberg)