Comb through the internet and you’ll find plenty of stories about junior bankers leaving Wall Street to find some kind of happiness. The same rule applies for barbers, apparently.
Rudy Milian is the star of a story in Dealbook that documents the life of a former barber at Salvatore’s, the haircutter tucked inside the Conrad Hotel, right next to Goldman Sachs. With its positioning, Salvatore’s is the de facto personal barber shop for Goldman.
“When it came to Goldman, I was a soldier,” said Milian, who left Salvatore’s after less than a year to join a “startup” barbershop. “Now,” he said, “I’m happy.” Hmm…
What was the program like? An exhaustive number of haircuts each day, brutal hours and the constant feeling of being undervalued and overqualified, he told Dealbook. Wait a second….
Life at his new shop, Harry’s, seems quieter than Salvatore’s, but more peaceful. Fewer haircuts, likely, but life isn’t all about haircuts, as goes the saying. “Most important, he said, he feels like he is part of something rather than just a cog in a machine,” the piece reads. I think it’s starting to sink in…
“At Harry’s, he can express himself. And now, he said, he can even grow a beard.” OK, we get it…
Bankers Admire Wells Ahead of Goldman, JPM (eFinancialCareers)
Despite a recent spate of scandals, J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs continue to hold the admiration of most people. But when it comes to earning respect and veneration from those within the industry, that honor surprisingly goes to a west-coast commercial bank: Wells Fargo.
Avoiding a ‘Death Spiral’ (eFinancialCareers)
Barclays jacked up bonuses for U.S. bankers to avoid a potential “death spiral” of resignations from American employees, according to Chief Executive Antony Jenkins. In fairness, the U.K. bank has already lost plenty of bankers, including two senior equity researchers and the chief European economist.
Sketchy Brokers Being Sketchy (WSJ)
North of 1,600 stockbrokers with major red flags in their background – like criminal charges or bankruptcy filings – failed to disclose those violations, and regulators haven’t noticed. The brokers are statistically more likely to receive complaints from clients, shockingly.
Now 101 Compliance Openings (Bloomberg)
Deutsche Bank’s compliance chief, Andrew Procter, will leave the firm in June. The German bank will now need to backfill his position as it seeks to add 100 other compliance staffers.
Three other U.K. banks – Standard Chartered, HSBC and RBS – are also struggling with retaining U.S. banking talent. They’re losing out to U.S. banks, hedge funds and private equity firms.
There is at least one U.S. regulator out there that needs to hire, but they just can’t afford it. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is saying it can’t do its job properly because it’s massively underfunded.
Bob de Groot, the head spot trading at BNP Paribas, has been suspended as part of the ongoing probe into the alleged manipulation of foreign exchange markets. Nearly two dozen bankers have now been fired or suspended, although Groot is the first from the French bank.
Buzz Around the Office
A U.K. Army commander has banned soldiers from eating sandwiches with their hands, calling it a “barbaric practice.”
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