Morning Coffee: Fresh career hope for fired bankers. The man leading J.P. Morgan’s hottest team

When ex-Barclays trader David Fotheringhame won a legal case last week compelling Barclays to rehire him, it was billed as a personal triumph for a man who’d been fired by the bank in 2015. Fotheringhame, representing himself in a UK employment tribunal, had successfully taken on the might of Barclays and its legal team. Barclays, which had dismissed Fotheringhame for applying the controversial “Last Look” program, accused him of creating a “distrustful and closed” environment in his team, and lined up several executives to explain why they could never hire him again.

But the case has ramifications beyond Fotheringhame’s career. Legal experts now say that other British bankers who are suing their former employers for unfair dismissal should also consider asking for a job rather than a cash payout. This is because compensation for a standard unfair dismissal (in which there’s no discrimination or whistleblowing) is normally capped at £83k ($107k) in the UK.

In the finance sector “people’s earnings are so much greater than the cap”, Samantha Mangwana, an employment lawyer at CM Murray in London, told Bloomberg. “The best financial remedy is to go back to the work,” added John Marshall, an employment lawyer at Slater & Gordon. “You’re treated like you never left, all back pay is due and you’re made whole.”

Reinstatement isn’t yet a popular option in the UK and employers typically argue that it’s unfeasible, especially at senior levels, because trust in the former employee has long since broken down, reports Bloomberg. But Barclays trotted out the trust argument in the Fotheringhame case – and lost.

Separately, as we revealed in June, JP Morgan’s investment bank has been developing a new online platform to crowdsource large amounts of data and let its clients exchange and store sensitive data that’s not in the public domain. Now Business Insider is reporting that the initiative, called ‘Roar by JPMorgan’ and seen as one of the most cutting-edge tech projects ever undertaken by the bank, is being led by Samik Chandarana. JPM has gone for a safe pair of hands with Chandarana – he’s been with the firm for 19 years and was appointed as head of analytics and data science for the corporate and investment bank last October. The Roar team is currently recruiting, and as we noted last year, Chandarana likes hiring people who “know how to work with customers” and are “like-minded” rather than pure “book-smart” talent.

Meanwhile:

Philip Noblet, HSBC's top UK dealmaker, is joining Jefferies. (Financial Times)

Struggling hedge fund Brevan Howard is cutting costs by getting rid of space it previously used as a kitchen, gym and private reception area. (Bloomberg)

Like Goldman Sachs before it, Morgan Stanley has dropped its coverage of Tesla, prompting rumors that Elon Musk may actually be pushing forward with the privatization deal. Reports suggest that Morgan Stanley may be representing Musk or Tesla's board. (Seeking Alpha)

Credit Suisse has appointed a new head for its equity-linked debt business in EMEA. (Global Capital)

Barclays has poached one of Goldman Sachs' top electronic trading engineers. (Financial Times)

HSBC’s previous head of sustainable bonds EMEA, Victoria Clarke, is joining Barclays. (Reuters)

Does this woman have the world’s toughest regulatory job? (Financial News)

Why Britain should not deport UBS rogue trader Kewku Adoboli. (Evening Standard)

Barclays has launched a ‘lawtech’ hub in London. (Legal Cheek)

Vanessa Colella, Citi Ventures’ chief innovation officer, reveals the top-10 innovations that could shape the future. (Yahoo Finance)

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Image credit: skodonnel, Getty