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Morning Coffee: Harsh warning from 2nd year analyst who regularly worked until 4am. Stupidly expensive Seamless orders

Don't. However much you want to get or to keep a job in banking, don't sacrifice your health in the process. That means sleeping a lot more than three or four hours a night and being kind to your body.

This is the message from a former second year analyst at a 'major European bank' who spoke to Business Insider. Following yesterday's news of the tragic death of Shivam Choski, a second year analyst at Chicago-based M&A boutique Lincoln International, it seems very pertinent.

'Laura,' the ex-analyst in the BI article, says she regularly worked until 4am. Despite being previously healthy and having no underlying conditions, she was also hospitalized three times in two years and developed a throat infection which (because she couldn't have time off to recover) spread to her heart and resulted in a heart attack due to infective endocarditis. Doctors told her: "If you keep working you will die." Her husband told her to get out of the industry: "The money's not worth it." She did.

Laura's story can't be dismissed as a one-off. Dr. Ahmed Elghamaz, a consultant cardiologist at London North West University Hospital, said it's become more common for people aged 25 to suffer heart attacks caused by stress. Dr. Arjun Ghosh, a consultant cardiologist at Barts Heart Centre in London estimated that heart attacks among bankers under the age of 30 have risen 10% in the past decade, and that around 10% of his patients in this age range work in finance.

Laura's experience suggests things haven't changed. Juniors' working hours are supposed to have improved since banks introduced restrictions to juniors' working hours in the wake of the death of Bank of America intern Moritz Erhardt in 2013. However, Laura nearly died in 2015. As people here us a few months ago when we asked about sleep in banking, the new rules haven't always made things better. "Saturdays off" simply means longer hours on Thursdays and Fridays. Saturday might be a rest day, Sunday is back to work.

Separately, Taylor Lorenz, a staff writer at the Atlantic, has had a Twitter hit with a post about being ripped off by Seamless, the food delivery system used by most banks. It's below, and has inspired copycats.

I Seamlessed a $22 avocado toast and this is what just arrived pic.twitter.com/PFNzWIeOY5

— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) July 29, 2018

wow I just seamlessed $65 water and THIS is what arrived! pic.twitter.com/QZxgVNGWGP

— jordan (@JordanUhl) July 31, 2018

Meanwhile:

Credit Suisse is planning to relocate 250 people because of Brexit. 50 of them will go to Madrid. (Bloomberg) 

There's been progress (sort of) in reaching a post-Brexit agreement for banks in London. On one hand, London now accepts that Brussels can ultimately decide whether UK financial services rules are equivalent to its own, with no further right of appeal, which in effect gives the EU veto power over some UK financial reforms if it wants to retain access to the European market. On the other, the Europeans are willing to discuss 'mechanisms for co-ordinating rule changes,' and guarantees for equivalence. (Financial Times)

Big Four accounting firms had some tense talks about their futures at a secret location in London. 'The atmosphere worsened when a fire alarm went off halfway through, leaving several executives “petrified” that they would be spotted by journalists if they were forced to huddle on the steps outside of the building ' (Financial Times) 

Bank of America hired Jill Schwartz, the former global head of leveraged finance at Barclays. (Global Capital) 

HSBC has got a special piece of software called 'MyDeal', accessible by iPad, which it says will transform primary issuance. (Euromoney) 

Blame the back office for the decline of Dubai private equity fund Abraaj: “The back office was not keeping pace in terms of sophistication or best practice.” (Bloomberg) 

Bankers are still benefiting from 2008 stock options. Goldman partners have made pre-tax profits of around $3bn. (WSJ) 

WeWork is revamping a decrepit UBS office in New Jersey with a meditation room and juice bar. (BizJournals)  

Boss blanket-emails his employees: "You are really getting on my tits." (NewsAU) 

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com

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AUTHORSarah Butcher Global Editor

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