Thursday's Headlines: When Bonus Cuts Mean Clipping Coupons for the 1%

You can almost hear the strains of "Cry Me a River." Wall Streeters are struggling in the face of lower comps according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle. The story points out that while the median 2010 household income was $49,445, one broker-dealer marketing exec who earns $350,000, was buckling under the stress to afford his family’s private schools and private rental. It also notes a hedge fund manager who was forced to sell two motorcycles so he could continue to pay the $17,000 annual expenses for his two dogs and the $500 monthly fee to park one of his three luxury cars. The manager said that Wall Street employees typically don’t save and are living to the bone in a downturn.

The marketing exec complained that his family was now washing dishes by hand and couldn’t afford to upgrade from his two-bedroom Brooklyn duplex. He told the paper: “I wouldn't want to whine. All I want is the stuff that I always thought, growing up, that successful parents had.”

 

Other News:

Standard Chartered plans to hire 2,600 after posting its 8th annual record earnings on corporate and consumer banking. [Bloomberg]

DealBook examines the myths surrounding private equity with a look at the aftermath of the top 10 leveraged buyout deals. [NY Times]

BlackStone founder Steven Schwarzman tops private equity pay with $213.5 million in take-home pay and dividends. [Financial Times]

UK insurance giant Prudential may move its headquarters from Britain. [Businessweek]

Cantor sues four ex-employees who defected to a China backed bank. [Bloomberg]

RBS will sell its Asian assets to Malaysia's CIMB. [WSJ]

RBS bankers will receive much of their 2011 bonuses within four months. [The Telegraph]

Japan launches inspections of the country's $350 billion corporate pension-management industry. [WSJ]