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Lunchtime Links: 70% of bankers think teachers aren't paid enough; Nomura is NOT a systemically important financial institution

As teachers in the UK prepare to strike over pensions and working conditions, they may get support from an unexpected source: a substantial majority of financial services professionals consider them underpaid.

A report by the St. Paul's Institute, based upon a survey of 515 London financial services professionals, found that most people working in financial services consider "bond traders' overpaid and teachers underpaid. We've pasted the salient graph below.

For those who can't see it, it shows that: 70% of respondents think teachers don't earn enough; 66% of respondents think bond traders earn too much, and 42% of respondent think bankers' pay is "about right."

Do you think each of the following professions get paid too much, too little or

about the right amount?

StPaul'spayopinionschart

Source: St Paul's Institute.

Separately, the Financial Stability Board issued a list of the 29 banks it considers globally systemically important and which it says must hold an additional 1-2.5% of capital.

Surprisingly, the list included Bank of China, which as Breaking Views points out, could be a boon that gives BoC international credibility. Also surprisingly, the list didn't include Nomura. After last week's cost cutting news, this may be more than coincidental.

Only a third of 500 bankers questioned said they believed in God, about half the proportion in the country as a whole. (Guardian)

Three-quarters of London financial professionals said the gap between rich and poor is too big, according to a report by the St. Paul's Institute. (Bloomberg)

The European Commission is considering tough new proposals to curb the pay and bonuses that banks can hand out to staff working across the European Union. (Independent)

Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to pay its investment bankers an estimated 500m in bonuses this year despite a profits crash in their division. (Sunday Times)

Marshall Wace manager thinks Chinese bank stocks might rise 50-60% over the next six months. (Bloomberg)

Sergio Ermotti is going to be made permanent chief executive at UBS, which will announce at least 1,500 redundancies on November 17th and "massively reduce" its fixed income business. (Bloomberg)

Worries about Jefferies appear to be receding. (Bloomberg)

Jon Corzine stepped down as head of his bankrupt brokerage Friday, but his 'fuzzy' thinking has been threatening his illustrious career for years. (Daily Beast)

Horta-Osorio admitted he thought nothing of holding strategy meetings at weekends because it allowed his senior managers to have clearer heads. He was so concerned by "toxins" that he demanded his own teapot travel with him on trips. (Telegraph)

On the other side of the office door, Horta-Osorio was slumped over his desk, pale and struggling to stay awake. (Sunday Times)

Leverage climbed from 3-4 times in the 19th century to 30 times in the bubble. And return on equity - unsurprisingly - went from modest single figures to 30 per cent at the peak. (Financial Times)

Sun reporter goes undercover, purports to discover love tent at St Paul's. (The Sun)

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AUTHOReFinancialCareers UK Insider Comment
  • Ne
    Nero
    8 November 2011

    Sealion,

    I accept that something was wrong when banks' structured credit teams were churning out overly complex and fundamentally highly correlated products only to be hoovered up by their mates on the next bank of desks "managing" the same banks' SIVs and investment books. However, it is worth also remembering that many products were created to meet the frenzied demand from the investor community (pensions, insurers). Why are the bankers being vilified for meeting this demand? Because they paid themselves handsomely I suppose. You talk about Marxism, the banking model was more Marxist that most - significant chunks of profits afterall were channelled to the workers rather than taken by the top echelon of managers as in most capitalist organisations. The Left should love the banking model but are prevented from so doing by their hatred of anyone better off the them!

  • Wi
    Wizard of EC1
    8 November 2011

    What if the question were - do teachers get enough holidays??

    I have no sympathy for people whose greatest stress is a pre-pubescent swearing at them.

    I recently overheard a person on the train bragging about a three week conference / holiday break in Florida - his wife had joined him and all this pillock was prattling on about were the golf days, boat trips, cocktail receptions and shopping - was he a Banker or a Headteacher?

    Want a hint - overweight, poorly fitted suit, rubber soled shoes and a beard .....

    You guess, no prizes for correctly shouting "TEACHER".

    Teachers are the "Greeks" of our civil service.

  • Se
    Sealion
    8 November 2011

    CF, you obviously, and perhaps deliberately misconstrued the argument. No one in his right mind would propose marxist-like flat rate pay. However, it is an indisputable fact that bank(st)ers have often provided goods and services that benefited themselves and harmed the rest of us, resulting in ever growing pay differentials.

  • CF
    CF
    8 November 2011

    Sealion, so you want all professions to earn a flat basic rate? What a grim, depressing society that would be, where no one would have any aspiration or hope of switching into a higher paying position.

  • Ba
    Banker
    7 November 2011

    Teachers are poorly paid because they operate in a rigged socialist market. Privatise schools and let teachers be paid according to their ability - the rubbish ones will get the tuppence they deserve while the talented ones will earn potentially in the high six figures.

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