Late Lunchtime Links: Is this the worst possible bank to be working for now?

Where should you not be working in the current circumstances? Is it Unicredit? Is it

BNP Paribas and Barclays, both of which have big exposure to Italy? Is it the amorphous mass of 'US banks' which have

combined exposure of €269bn to Italy and €179bn to Spain?

It's Natixis.

According to analysts at Morgan Stanley, Natixis ranks in the 'least preferred banks' (along with Lloyds and various others of limited investment banking significance) in the current circumstances. This is because 50% of its capital is currently allocated to its investment bank, because its tier one capital ratio is only around 7.4% (versus a sector average of 8.3%), and because it is only a mid-sized investment banking player. And as has been widely predicted, mid-sized players will lose out in the age of the flow monster.

Exane appears to have been spending too much on staff. (Financial News)

Citigroup's increased lending aboard has been accompanied by higher expenses, which are eroding profit. (Bloomberg)

The great irony: regulators have encouraged banks to hold sovereign debt, but as the sovereign debt crisis worsens, so does the precariousness of banks. (Financial Times)

S&P says governments could bail out banks again in the next financial crisis. (Financial Times)

More than 15% of Singapore households are millionaires. (The Money Illusion)

Traders make a short video with dramatic music in order to feel good about themselves. (Condor Options)

Traders mostly look like any other sunlight- and-exercise-deprived guy who can afford to walk into Brooks Brothers and buy a suit. (The Atlantic)

What it means when you dream about work. (Wall Street Journal)