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Employees of Countrywide Financial may soon be on the receiving end of "take-it-or-leave-it" discussions on new roles as Bank of America begins to absorb the troubled mortgage company. The New York Post says B of A will begin discussing employees' new responsibilities this week, and many senior employees believe they'll be offered "inferior positions with big pay cuts." The idea, the newspaper says, is to "force them to quit and therefore... Read more

Lehman Brothers will award mid-year stock bonuses to its 26,000 employees. The Wall Street Journal describes the award as "essentially a down payment for 2008 compensation." The remainder of the year's compensation will be paid as cash and stock in January, the newspaper reports. The move was seen as an attempt to reward employees while the company faces tough times, and to take advantage of its stock price, which is now... Read more

Wall Street's job cuts to date have only scratched the surface of what would be needed to match historical benchmarks, such as revenue per employee. According to an analysis by financial sector research boutique Portales Partners, to restore profitability banks would have to slash headcounts by 20 percent if revenue reverts to 2004 levels. The research firm compared the growth in annualized revenue (adjusted for mergers and recent write-downs) and... Read more

Corporate development roles draw some dealmakers from Wall Street. Citi's Pandit overhauling bonus structure to boost cooperation among divisions. *** With strategic acquisitions a relative bright spot within today's lean mergers and acquisitions landscape, some laid-off investment bankers are landing as in-house dealmakers with their former corporate clients, observes theDeal.com. Research analysts are eyeing the corporate development arena, too. Still, even giant corporations' in-house deal teams are tiny compared with a... Read more

Citigroup reportedly is reshaping its bonus system to emphasize divisional cooperation and overall corporate performance. "We have to put a premium on partnership-like behaviour," an unnamed Citi executive told the Financial Times. The FT describes the change as a key plank in Chief Executive Vikram Pandit's strategy to revitalize the "universal banking" model by fostering synergies among investment banking, commercial banking and wealth management. Pandit reportedly asked Citi's HR chief to... Read more

Bank of America said its absorption of Countrywide will eliminate 7,500 jobs over two years. The figure reportedly amounts to 12.5 percent of the combined work force. The purchase is slated to close July 1, after Countrywide shareholders signed off on it Wednesday. "Most of the reductions will occur in instances where the two companies have significant overlap such as staff support," the bank said. "Bank of America will continue to monitor... Read more

We all know about information overload. It's been around for at least 40 years, but the Internet has raised it to new levels. As a job candidate, you're forced to confront it from at least two angles. As a user of information, you have the Herculean task of filtering an ocean of job postings and Web sites to find the few nuggets that might bring you closer to your goal of... Read more

Layoffs and the threat of layoffs, but opportunities in Boston, Chicago and the Middle East. The biggest names in alternative investments are feasting on top performers recruited out of investment banks. According to Bloomberg News, more than 45 traders, bankers, analysts and other executives have left the big banks this year, seeking greener pastures in hedge funds and private-equity firms such as Citadel, Tudor and . Headhunters say the movement's pace... Read more

Credit Suisse is reportedly preparing another round of layoffs centered in its investment banking division, including high-yield sales and trading and leveraged loans. An anonymously sourced story in the New York Post gave no numbers or timing, but described the purported plan as cutting "muscle, not just fat." Credit Suisse's investment banking unit employs about 19,000 people worldwide. The firm announced layoffs of 500 people each in January and in April,... Read more

Financially troubled Lehman Brothers reportedly faces a new challenge – the threat of mass defections by staff who fear a major new round of layoffs. Unnamed Lehman executives view a sale of the bank as the main alternative to cutting loose as many as 5,000 of its 26,000 employees, according to CNBC. "Already fear is spreading through the senior ranks of the investment bank: Worried bankers and traders have recently been... Read more

Fishing in Wall Street's troubled waters, the biggest names in the alternative investments business are feasting on top performers recruited out of investment banks. "More than 45 traders, bankers, analysts and other executives have left the major investment banks this year to join hedge funds and private-equity firms," Bloomberg News reported. Bloomberg said it toted up the figure – which excludes people who left Wall Street to start their own companies... Read more

More professionals left Wachovia Securities to join ex-colleagues' fund management start-up. Tudor hired Bear Stearns' distressed-debt team to run a new credit investment strategy. NYSE Euronext hired a U.S. futures chief from Merrill Lynch, and Lehman reshuffled its senior executive ranks. *** Riverfront Investment Group, launched in April by four asset management executives who split off from Wachovia Securities, said 10 more former colleagues have joined it, five as partners. They include... Read more

Goldman Sachs, still perched comfortably above the tsunami of write-downs that roil its bulge-bracket rivals, is nonetheless cutting costs in its own subdued way. Slashing perks plus a modest headcount reduction helped Goldman beat estimates for its May quarter, the New York Post reports. "Junior and mid-tier executives now fly coach instead of business class on flights shorter than four or five hours," the paper says, citing unnamed sources. It also... Read more

The latest quarter was one that many Canadian banks would rather forget. That may make them less eager to hire. After reporting a loss of C$1.1 billion, or C$3 a share, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce announced plans to lay off 100 people from its CIBC World Markets. Other big banks, though they didn't announce any cuts, also had dismal results: Profit at Royal Bank, Canada's No. 1 lender, slumped 27... Read more

A survey of Wall Street recruiters sees firms bidding 20 percent less than a year ago to lure new talent. NYSE is offering buyouts to a quarter of its New York staff. Bank of America hired several Bear Stearns investment bankers for senior roles. *** Compensation packages offered to new Wall Street hires may fall 20 percent from peaks, according to a survey released by the smart cube, a global research boutique.... Read more

Tudor Investment Corp. launched a credit investment strategy spearheaded by five former Bear Stearns distressed-debt executives and analysts. The hedge fund joins a growing list of prominent financial institutions scooping up talent in the wake of Bear's shotgun wedding with JPMorgan Chase. Gregory Hanley and Alan Mintz will establish Tudor's new investment management business focused on credit-related strategies, the company said. The two had co-led Bear's distressed debt team, and Hanley... Read more

As the Bear Stearns saga draws to a close, several bankers and equity research professionals from the ill-fated investment bank have landed on their feet elsewhere. For example, Bank of America hired David Glaser as global mergers and acquisitions chairman. He had co-led Bear Stearns' investment banking unit and was a member of the bank's management committee. At least four other senior bankers from Bear Stearns joined B of A in... Read more