UK
Sort of. UBS managed to entirely miss the fixed income party when it reported its second quarter results last week, citing key departures and low staff morale, and posted a $1.7bn loss in its fixed income currencies and commodities (FICC) trading unit while competitors managed stellar earnings.
Now, however, it seems keen to make amends and, according to a memo leaked in the Financial Times, has filled more than 20 positions within the FICC arm across the US, Europe and Asia and intends to recruit throughout 2009. It’s managed to sway them away from the likes of Goldman and Merrill Lynch.
“Our strategic goal is to become a leading FICC franchise as measured by profitability, client ranking and market share,” read the internal memo. “These changes and appointments, along with others that will follow, represent a key step along the road to achieving this goal.”
It helps, of course, that UBS has upped pay this year in a bid stem further staff defections and make itself more attractive, but you can’t help wondering if this is too little too late. UBS believes the new hires will begin to make an impact by the fourth quarter of this year, and many are cautious over whether these enormous investment banking revenues can last throughout 2009.
Bumper pay day for boutique staff ( Financial News)
Mervyn King the star hedge fund trader (FT Alphaville)
The Fed plans to recruit 160 traders for markets division (Financial Times)
Deutsche Bank was looking for “women, alcohol and gaming addiction” (Bloomberg)
Investment banks face turf war with private equity houses (Financial News)
The Wall Street Bum – this is satire people (Crossing Wall Street)
Judge needs “much more detailed account of the underlying facts” before settling the Merrill-BoA bonus issue (Telegraph)
Standard Chartered to add 850 in Asian wealth expansion (Reuters)
Goldman must give up Sergey Aleynikov’s personnel file (CNBC)
well.. thats a good news for stan chart… it is really expanding and no doubt next year by this time it might take over city and hsbc….. well good luck… asian countrys have not been really affected with credit crunch and far doing good…… am heading to asia