Around the World: Pay falling in Scandinavia, Goldman's New Singapore Offices

Pay is sliding with the large Nordic banks

It's never nice to put a dampener on holiday plans but the underlying message to bankers from the latest quarterly and half-year figures from the main Nordic banks is: don't be too extravagant with your vacation spending. [Norway]

In Singapore, Goldman Sachs is showing off large new office space

Dismal Q2 earnings, redundancies and hiring freezes: many global banks are having a hard time in the West. But in Singapore it's a different story. The Straits Times reported today that Goldman Sachs, which unveiled poor Q2 earnings earlier this week, has expanded its Singapore office floor "with enough space for 400 staff." [Singapore]

Why Aussies are coming to Asia: Careers matter more than money

Australian banking professionals are primarily moving to Hong Kong and Singapore because they want to grow their careers in large financial centres. As motivating factors, salaries and low taxes in Asia have to some extent been offset by the rising Australian dollar and increasing local living costs. [Australia]

Sorry, but you are not part of the small pool of high calibre candidates receiving multiple offers

On one hand, there are redundancies and hiring freezes. On the other, there are 'talent shortages,' multiple offers and buybacks. The financial services hiring market is splitting into two distinct halves. There are the hot people. And there are the not-so-hot ones. Banks rumoured (but not confirmed) to have hiring freezes now include: Deutsche, BarCap, UBS and Credit Suisse. In most cases, these freezes apply to front office positions. But even in the front office there is selective, strategic, hiring still happening. [UK]

What to do if you want to be one of the people earning more than 1k a day in change

management

The new rock-star-media-mogul-big-swingers of the financial services industry are not investment bankers. They are not traders. They are not hedge fund managers. They are change managers. Since 2009, demand for people who can help banks get to grips with the changes they need to make to meet new regulatory demands has gone through the roof. Some of these 'change managers' are modest, salaried individuals. Others are superstars on massive day rates. [UK]

The safest banks to work for in the Middle East across M&A, ECM and DCM

Times are tough for investment bankers working in the Middle East. The total fee pot has fallen by nearly 50% on last year, according to new Thomson Reuters figures, and the first half of 2010 was hardly a stellar period. [Middle East]

Don't panic: Northern Trust may be cutting, but there are still plenty of funds jobs

Northern Trust's decision to axe 220 jobs in Dublin as a result its acquisition of Bank of Ireland Securities Services (BOISS) in February is unfortunate, but those taking redundancy will find no shortage of other job opportunities. [Ireland]