Thursday’s Headlines: A Day in the Life of a VP of Debt Finance

Businessweek’s ongoing series, “A Day in the Life,” has a neat recent installment highlighting Kara Larsen, a 2010 MBA grad from Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business and vice president of debt finance at Barclays in London. This hour-by-hour rundown of her day gives a candid view of what this job entails. A few highlights:

5:45 a.m. – Wake up

7:30 a.m. – At her desk

7:45 a.m. to 12 p.m. – Video or phone meetings with India about a new tool in development

12 p.m. to 1 p.m. – Meeting in the office about the tool

1 p.m. to 2 p.m. – Check e-mails while eating a sandwich

2 p.m. to 7 p.m. – Meetings with tech department, stakeholders and a recent hire

7 p.m. – Test run of the new tool

7:30 p.m. – “I’m usually out of the office by now, but today I have a bunch of administrative work to do—some compliance training for the bank and my mid-year review comments. We had set objectives earlier in the year and I have to re-evaluate my performance.”

9 p.m. – Leave the office

11 p.m. – Go to bed

 

Other News:

Lazard’s Q2 profit fell 50 percent on lower revenue. [Financial Times]

Llyods posted a $1.05 billion loss for the first half of 2012 as it shrinks its business and faces insurance scandal claims. [WSJ]

Nomura CEO Kenichi Watanabe resigned following leaks of insider trading. [Telegraph]

Spain’s Santander’s Q2 profit fell 93 percent on real estate loans. [NY Times]

Citigroup creator Sandy Weill calls for a breakup of big banks. [CNN Money]

Court Square Capital is on its way to raising a $3 billion private equity fund. [Bloomberg]

Christopher Mikosh, a former Goldman Sachs managing director in Hong Kong, plans to start a credit fund by Q4. [Reuters]

Private equity is shying away from India. [Times of India]