Morning Coffee: Is it safe to work for RBS? Reassurances and absences at Deutsche Bank

Can everyone please return RBS's calls? The government owned British bank may soon be private again.

George Osborne used his Mansion House speech to posit RBS's return to private ownership. However, he was far from specific about when it will come to pass, saying simply that it will begin "in the coming months." RBS insiders have reportedly taken this to mean that the privatisation process will begin in the fourth quarter, although there are suggestions that it might well take years. 

In the meantime, up to 90% of RBS's investment banking staff face redundancy. Will the cull still happen if the company is imminently returning to private hands? Will RBS have the appetite for incurring the extra costs associated with such substantial layoffs ahead of an IPO? No one knows. RBS's senior management are said to be looking forward to a revival in their ability to pay competitively and attract good staff.

Separately, Reuters reports that John Cryan has moved to stop an exodus of senior staff at Deutsche Bank. Fearful that Anshu Jain's exit will precipitate the exit of others, Cryan has reportedly been meeting top managers, while Jain and Deutsche chairman Paul Achleitner have been busy telling everyone their jobs are secure. Nonetheless, Reuters notes that several senior Deutsche staff have pulled out of public appearances. This includes Anshu Jain himself. Jain was due to appear at a university in Stuttgart next week, but has cancelled.

Meanwhile:

Jim O’Neil, global head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s financial institutions group, is expected to be unveiled later this month as RBS’s new corporate broker and privatisation adviser. (Financial Times)

Pimco: “The primary business driver for Deutsche Bank remains its investment bank as the asset management and private banking arms have low profitability. There’s no easy fix.”  (Bloomberg)

Joerg Vogt, a former trading executive at Deutsche Bank AG, sued the U.K. financial regulator for indirectly identifying him in its Libor settlement. (Bloomberg) 

Alpha males battle it out on Wall Street: A 400 metre run and the beginning and end, a football throw, pull-ups, a 40-yard dash, a 500 metre stationary row, a vertical jump, a 20 yard shuttle and a bench press. (Bloomberg)

Nomura has merged its teams trading structured rates and structured credit into a single unit. (Financial News)

J.P. Morgan's stock just hit a new peak. (WSJ)

Banks’ new-new thing: capital relief transactions. (Financial Research)

The latest employees under investigation at Deusche Bank are in clearing and settlements. (WSJ) 

28 year-old currency trader who went to fight Isis has returned to the UK. (Daily Mail)

You’re most likely to pass the CFA exams if you both work in finance and have an education in finance. (300 Hours)

The higher your family's income, the less altruistic your children. (Cityam)