Morning Coffee: Ominous new reason why Tom King left Barclays. Facebook totally outdoes Goldman Sachs

Remember Tom King? That "highly intelligent banker" and "thoughtful intellectual" who was in charge of Barclays' investment bank until the middle of last month? It turns out that his exit might have been motivated by more than just a difference of opinion with Barclays' new CEO Jes Staley. It seems that King looked into the future and decided to get out of banking while he could, and that other senior British bankers may want to do the same.

Bloomberg has spoken to "people with knowledge of" King's plans who say his exit was timed to precede the introduction of the UK's new 'Senior managers and certification regime.' Coming into affect today, the new regime allows the UK's financial regulators to pin blame for wrongdoing within banks on named individuals rather than firms. Reuters reports that the changes are prompting a rush of anxiety across the City, and that senior staff are requesting that their roles be "juniorized" to avoid taking responsibility for the actions of subordinates. 55 year-old King, an American who spent 26 years in banking, and was awarded $7.4m in shares alone last year, seemingly decided that the new rules are more hassle than they're worth. Other senior British bankers may reach similar conclusions.

Separately, Goldman Sachs pays its London staff around £375k ($533k) a year. That's a lot, unless you work for Facebook. The Sunday Times reports that the social media site is awarding its UK-based staff bonuses of £775k ($1.1m) each over the next two years in an attempt to reduce the tax liability on its profits.

Meanwhile:

Barclays' historic regulatory problems could still cost the bank millions. (Telegraph)

How to get in with Goldman Sachs and Facebook: familiarize yourself with Open Compute Standards. (WSJ)

Antony Jenkins (ex-Barclays) has been discussing a fintech venture with Amanda Staveley (currently suing Barclays for almost £1bn). (The Times) 

Thinktank thinks of way to save European banks: European corporates should help stem this by making sure to have at least one European bank involved in every deal. (Financial Times) 

Senior UBS trading professional joins private equity fund. (PE Hub) 

Kevin Connors, the global head of FX sales at BAML, has left the bank. (Business Insider) 

Bank of America will be culling 150 investment bankers and traders this week. (Bloomberg) 

Advice from J.P. Morgan recruiter: "You can't just come in and ask, 'Tell me about investment banking.'" (Business Insider)

Commerzbank has a new CEO - the ex-head of its retail unit. (WSJ) 

The American rich are moving from second-home ownership to more of a hub-and-spoke model. New York serves as a base for seasonal migrations to Miami, the Hamptons and Aspen. (New York Times) 

Are you a 1 percenter? (WSJ)

Battle of the hedge fund tycoons basements. (Evening Standard) 

Banker allegedly ran up £42k ($60k) in parking fines. (Bloomberg) 

Photo: altrendo images/Stockbyte/Thinkstock