It’s tried a ‘no jerks’ policy. It’s tried behavioural change through management jargon. It’s tried cutting bonuses in the wake of misdemeanours. Now, still smarting from the transgressions involving is dark pool, Barclays is trying a new method of curtailing its more delinquent bankers: training compliance staff to talk them down.
In future, the Financial Times reports that Barclays’ compliance staff will be empowered to ‘mentor’ everyone else at the bank. This empowerment will be gifted to them by a course at a new Compliance Academy which Barclays is reportedly setting up at Cambridge University’s Judge Business School. There, Barclays’ compliance staff will be instructed in the ways of technical and behavioural compliance and given the confidence to percolate the wisdom they derive throughout the bank. Even better, Barclays plans to set up a whole new system of compliance qualifications and to throw it open to compliance professionals from rival firms. Given Barclays’ recent compliance failings, we don’t anticipate a lot of early interest.
Separately, Deutsche Bank’s banking analysts think the bad times for fixed income currencies and commodities (FICC) professionals, might be coming to an end. Yesterday, analysts at the German bank said FICC appeared to have picked up in June and upgraded Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan accordingly. The FICC recovery was down to, ‘ strong credit issuance, tighter spreads and a pickup in broker dealer inventory levels,’ they added. Deutsche’s optimism follows Bernstein’s recent downgrade of Goldman Sachs on the grounds of slow fixed income sales and trading revenues. It also follows an intimation by Deutsche itself that fixed income sales and trading didn’t do too well in the three months running up to June.
Meanwhile:
Why Barclays lied. (Dave Hunter)
Deutsche Bank in Birmingham is now servicing 500 clients previously handled by London across debt, listed derivatives and cash equities, with a 270-seat trading floor on the way. (Birmingham Post)
Bill Gross has bet $200m of his own money that interest rates will remain low. (Bloomberg)
JPMorgan’s share price only fell 1% on news of Jamie Dimon’s illness. (Dealbook)
Berenberg has been building out its chief investment office. (Investment Europe)
Obama implied that the US will be doing more to curtail traders’ bonuses. (Bloomberg)
UBS is still cutting costs. Mansoor Mohi-uddin, chief currency strategist, has left the bank. (WSJ)
The 12 types of people in banking. (CNBC)
People prefer electric shocks to time alone with their thoughts. (Boston Globe)
A brief history of working. (McSweeneys)
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