Author Archives: William
A tall order in FICC at Morgan Stanley
Ambition should be applauded, but only so long as it stays on the right side of achievable. James Gorman must be getting tired of being asked about his fixed income business. At this week’s shareholder meeting, the chairman and chief … Continue reading
Putting the fun back into investment banking
Something needs to happen to snap the industry out of its gradual circle of decline ‘Most of the time, I don’t have much fun. And the rest of the time, I don’t have any fun at all’. Woody Allen might … Continue reading
JP Morgan lives down to low expectations
The big beast of Wall St did not have quite as happy a start to the year as it first looks. JP Morgan has made a habit over the past few years of setting a high bar for its rivals … Continue reading
An apology over the proposed bonus cap
The proposed extension of the cap on bonuses to asset managers has exposed the true colours of MEPs in attacking bonuses: they just don’t like rich people. My latest column for Financial News I feel that an apology is in … Continue reading
Stephen Hester: the banker who works (almost) for free
If you think the chief executive of RBS gets paid too much, think again. He gets paid nothing like as much as the outraged headlines suggests… It is difficult to think of a better way of reigniting the moral outrage … Continue reading
Bankers’ bonuses: for a few dollars more…
The EU proposal to cap bankers’ bonuses may well be barking mad – but its critics have hugely overstated its likely impact. Boris Johnson thinks it is moronic. Lots of lawyers think it might be illegal. The head of the … Continue reading
Bonuses: in the line of fire again
The proposed cap by the European Parliament on bankers’ bonuses will have wide-ranging and unintended consequences A year ago, a proposal by the European Parliament to cap bankers’ bonuses at no more than one times fixed salary seemed like little … Continue reading
Proprietary trading is dead. Long live proprietary trading?
Whatever else you might say about investment banks, please don’t mention the “p” word. Not “p” for pay, but “p” for proprietary trading. My latest column for Financial News. As the debate over the future of the “p” word rumbles … Continue reading
Making sense of investment banks in 2013
Could 2013 be the year when UBS is broken up, Morgan Stanley sells out, BNP Paribas and SocGen get back together, and Bob Diamond stages his comeback? My latest column for Financial News. The plot thickens… In terms of scandal … Continue reading