Competition in Greg Fleming’s Global Wealth Management unit at Morgan Stanley just got cutthroat.

[credit provider=”ampedstatus.org” url=”http://ampedstatus.org/time-to-clawback-2-2-trillion-in-corrupt-banker-compensation-nassim-taleb-on-occupywallstreet/”] Former options trader turned philosopher, NYU Professor Nassim Taleb, the author of “The Black Swan,” is worried that the Occupy Wall Street movement taking place in Manhattan’s Financial District and across the country will turn into class warfare.[via ampedstatus.org]”The Occupy Wall Street — they don’t have a […]

[credit provider=”Son of Groucho via Flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonofgroucho/4607241206/”] For most people working at banks, pay is down.Average pay at Goldman and JPMorgan dropped in the first three quarters of 2011.* Pay at Morgan Stanley rose slightly — up 6% from last year’s compensation pool.

[credit provider=”Milken Institute” url=”http://www.milkeninstitute.org/events/gcprogram.taf?function=bio&EventID=GC10&SPID=4701″] A group led by Apollo’s co-founder Joshua Harris and David Blitzer have been unanimously approved to buy the Philadelphia 76er’s NBA team. Australian hedge fund manager and Tory party supporter, Michael Hintze, who’s name has been dragged into Britain’s latest political scandal, has made generous donations to […]

Goldman Sachs stock was up over 5% on Tuesday despite reporting a loss for the third quarter.

As we already noted, Goldman turned in an ugly Q3 earnings report.

Wall Streeters are preparing for a year of deflated bonuses that will be around 25% of last year’s*, according to one of our sources at a big U.S. bank.

Sorry, JPMorgan bankers, but your chief executive just told a group of reporters today that the bank’s compensation as a percentage of revenue would be “less than newspapers,” Deal Journal reports.

[credit provider=”Elsa11 via Flickr ” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/elsa11/4371492666/sizes/m/in/photostream/”] BREAKING: It’s going to be a rough year for bonuses.Of course, you already knew that, but now New York comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is saying that it’s going to be a bad year for bonuses, and that the economy of New York City will be […]

John Paulson is making some big structural changes as his hedge fund is set to return the worst performance of his money management career to investors who saw him earn 590% in 2007. 

[credit provider=”Wikimedia Commons” url=”http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LongShadows2.jpg”] Thanks to a secret deal that’s been described as a “cock-up” on British tax officials behalf, Goldman Sachs didn’t have to pay a £10 million interest payment last December, according to documents published by the Guardian.The details of the deal show that Goldman benefitted from a […]

Hedge fund bonuses are expected to be so good in comparison to bank bonuses this year that the discrepancy skewed the results of a compensation survey.

[credit provider=”Wikimedia Commons” url=”http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schmela.jpg”] The $0 bonus meme is gathering steam.Earlier this week there was a report about how there could be virtually no bonuses this year, as more and more analysts expect the banks to come out with a quarterly loss.

Bank bonuses this year are going to be ugly. Dodd Frank rules, plummeting bank stocks, and a poor global economic outlook all translate to a poor outlook on banker bonuses.

Vincent Intierri just got a sweet new pay agreement: a $6.5 million salary until 2013, which bumps up to $7.5 million if his contract extends until 2016. (See the 8k)Intrierri works at Icahn Enterprises, the legendary Carl Icahn’s fund, where he’s a director and general partner, and has been working since 1998.

[credit provider=”Wikimedia Commons”] The rogue trading scandal might hurt bonus payouts at banks in London, according to the Telegraph.

[credit provider=”AP”] Hidden amongst the angry Labour Party barbs of former UK Chancellor Alistair Darling‘s book is this fascinating nugget about Jamie Dimon.After Darling introduced 2009’s surprise bonus tax, the Chancellor apparently got a call from an irate Dimon (Via Deal Journal):

[credit provider=”flickr/Ahmad Nawawi” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahmadnawawi/3808452611/”] One big rumour after the firing of Sallie Krawcheck was that she was the BofA executive who put her foot down about paying Merrill Lynch brokers according to their commissions.Both their new boss, David Darnell, and CEO Brian Moynihan, rumour was, were in favour of making […]

For the American economy – and for many other developed economies – the elephant in the room is the amount of money paid to bankers over the last five years. In the United States, the sum stands at an astounding $2.2 trillion.

[credit provider=”Wikipedia” url=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:London_110.jpg”] Bankers in London are spending less than usual on real estate, according to a new report.

In today’s “news that shouldn’t shock,” Bloomberg reports that “Junior Bankers Feel Disappointment With Pay.”  

One (arguably) positive outcome of all of the Wall Street layoffs and cost cutting is that it’s given a younger generation of financiers a chance to rise up the corporate ladder.

Given the horrible year in the financial industry (mass layoffs, plunging stock prices, mediocre trading results) this news is pretty obvious: bonuses are going to be bad.

Financial industry jobs might be facing the worst atmosphere in the past 30 years.

Goldman Sachs released some disappointing earnings numbers this morning.

[credit provider=”Flickr user: essygie” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/essygie/5268112425/”] Jonathan Ames has a great story in The Times of London detailing how British bankers are using whistleblowing laws to get bigger bonuses.Ames describes the practice:

The UBS relocation of some/many/all (one day maybe) of its staff from the Stamford offices to New York, has been a much-discussed topic for months.

In the Dodd-Frank bill, there’s an ugly rule that every financial exec should hate: the Clawback.

[credit provider=”AP” url=”http://www.apimages.com/”] Raises have been few and far between in the past few years, but one company that broke from the pack recently is Google. The online-search giant gave all its workers a 10 per cent raise this year.Crazy?

Despite lackluster performance across the sector, bank chiefs’ 2010 pay increased by an average of 36% over 2009, according to data compiled by the Financial Times.

[credit provider=”AP”] Even in the face of a federal budget crisis, members of Congress spent more than $20 million in staff bonuses at the end of last year, the Los Angeles Times reports.The money came out of the average $1.5 million annual allowance the federal government gives each member of […]

Financier Stanley Cheslock thinks his $15.95 million, 26,000-square-foot Connecticut mansion is a bargain.

Russell Chweidan went skiing with a client in March 2007 and hurt his back.

Goldman Sachs will pay its top five executives just under $70 million for their work in 2010, and four orders of catholic nuns are demanding that the firm launch a review over whether the pay is excessive.

The numbers are in.

Recently, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company’s president and chief executive, Richard Kramer, saw a 69 per cent rise in his annual compensation to $8.5 million in 2010, according to an Associated Press calculation from a regulatory filing.

Borders, the bankrupt bookseller, is trying to get permission to pay $8.3 million in bonuses to executives, according to the AP.

You might expect that if your firm wants to fire you, you’ll know about it immediately. You won’t be working there anymore.

HSBC wants its investors to pony up $22 million for its CEO, Stuart Gulliver, according to Bloomberg.

[credit provider=”nutloaf via flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/nutloaf/1501407755/”] Many hedge fund managers fled to Switzerland last year to escape the 50% bonus tax the Parliament levied on them.But because of things like the cold weather, boredom, and inconvenience, some of them have moved back to London since then. 

[credit provider=”Robert Holmgren” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/holmgren/5043806912/”] Major corporations are paying CEOs big bucks again, a Hay Group survey has found.”CEO bonuses at 50 major corporations jumped a median of 30.5%, the biggest gain in at least three years,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

Today’s lesson comes from Tony Hartl, the founder of Planet Tan and author of “Selling Sunshine: 75 Tips, Tools and Tactics for Becoming a Wildly Successful Entrepreneur” :

Four Google senior vice presidents will each collect more than $5 million in bonuses in 2011, according to a new filing with the SEC.

A court case in Germany is still in court debating the compensation issues that plagued some bankers during the financial crisis.

UBS CEO Oswald Gruebel says he won’t take a bonus for 2010, the WSJ reported.

With HSBC announcing its had tripled its profit in 2010, a filing also revealed that 253 of its bankers got bonuses worth more than $1.6 million, Express reports.

The average bonus on Wall Street was $128,530 for 2010.

Lloyd Blankfein’s salary raise is getting a lot of attention today because it tripled just months after he said in an interview with the staff of the FCIC that he doesn’t think people should be paid high cash salaries.

Jamie Dimon just got awarded his 2010 payout — and it’s very nice.

Yesterday was bonus day for traders at BarCap, and a bunch of them celebrated at a bar in London by drinking champagne and bragging about how much they got.

[credit provider=”The Quick and Dirty” url=”http://thequickanddirtydirty.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Lederhosen-germany-3172152-750-600.jpg”] We hear from a source that Deutsche Bankers got their bonuses yesterday.Apparently the news was mixed but in general, most employees saw a cut in their bonus compared to what they were awarded last year.

Big plans to limit banker bonuses in the UK won’t amount to anything, according to Bloomberg.

Can’t get paid until your company pays back its TARP debt? Rather get fired than have to worry about paying it back? Get another company to pay the debt off for you! 

A New York Times reporter really stuck it to Abby Cohen, a Goldman partner and one of the firm’s most high profile analysts, in an interview published today.

AOL chief financial officer Artie Minson just took home a huge bonus — $2,253,125, according to a filing with the SEC.

Goldman paid Lloyd Blankfein~$14.6 million last year, according to a regulatory filing.

Daniel Mudd’s description of the good ol’ days at Fannie Mae is disturbing at the same time that it sounds like a lot of fun.

[credit provider=”Book club queen” url=”http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.book-club-queen.com/image-files/betsy_tobin.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.book-club-queen.com/betsy-tobin.html&usg=__rqXXfNvywa3KVPBv0MGHxzuKMhg=&h=183&w=150&sz=25&hl=en&start=0&sig2=71iTK02P6tuD46-Rr4TPog&zoom=1&tbnid=dYgowHJbyzTlJM:&tbnh=146&tbnw=120&ei=_FRATZv4McHDgQfNjMnjAg&prev=/images%3Fq%3DBetsy%2BTobin%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1218%26bih%3D576%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=150&oei=_FRATZv4McHDgQfNjMnjAg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=9&ty=81″] Like bankers, banker spouses – in particular banker wives – have a certain reputation.They’re pampered; they wear designer clothes; they love to shop and spend; they live in the most exclusive and expensive neighborhoods in whichever city they live.

Goldman Sachsers found out their bonus packages yesterday and not surprisingly, with numbers lower than previous years – 5% lower to be exact – there was disappointment in the air around West St yesterday.

We hear from tipsters inside the bank that as predicted Goldman will announce firmwide bonuses tomorrow.

Last week, the news that some banker bonuses were paid out by accident, because of accounting errors, was really devastating for the European banking industry.

[credit provider=”hostingprod.com”] Two young prop traders are leaving Goldman’s principal strategies desk in London to launch a hedge fund. The pair have secured a $300 million investment from Scandanavian hedge fund Brummer & Partners.Lloyd Blankfein was seen walking into Jazz at Lincoln centre on Saturday, one block from his 15 […]

[credit provider=”Chicago Booth” url=”http://www.chicagobooth.edu/news/2007-12-10_dougan.aspx”] Credit Suisse is now deferring any bonuses that meet or exceed $51,845 (50,000 Swiss francs), by up to four years.The $51,845 threshold for deferring bonuses instead of paying them out in cash is totally new; the lower limit used to be about $129,000 (F125,000).

The London Mayor’s criticisms of the Prime Minister for his anti-banker taxes and regulations are quite harsh.

[credit provider=”Banana via Wikimedia Commons” url=”http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bananas_still_worried.jpg”] The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision might soon pass a measure that would require banks to disclose the individual sizes of all year end bonuses, signing bonuses, and golden parachutes.The Daily Mail: The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which counts the UK, US and […]

[credit provider=”ap”] We hear that about a month ago Jamie Dimon sent out a company-wide email crediting all the bank’s workers who earn less than  $50,000 a year.He thanked those workers for their hard work during challenging times, and added a nice bundle of cash to show his appreciation: $500 […]

Merry Christmas everyone!

Goldman Sachs will be giving out some bonuses based on future earnings and stock performance in an effort to dissuade excessive risk-taking by its bankers, Bloomberg reported

[credit provider=”Jack Duval via flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/cliffspics/149470904/”] We came across an oped in Sunday’s Washington Post written by four Wharton professors.According to the four authors, the MBA students they know, who have worked for banks before, are so over bonuses.

[credit provider=”Esquire” url=”http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/wall-street-bonuses-2010″] With all the commotion surrounding this year’s Christmas craze – the “Zero” bonus – Esquire scuttled down to Wall Street to get the word on how bankers feel about this year’s compensation packages.98 Wall Streeters – 81 men; 17 women – were asked how big their bonuses […]

[credit provider=”RTE”] Now is not the time for the Bank of Ireland to be paying out bonuses, let along six-figure bonuses.So when Ireland’s finance minister, Brian Lenihan, found out about a $650,000 bonus awarded to an executive in the bank’s asset management division, he was furious.

Apparently Morgan Stanley chief James Gorman got a little nasty in a meeting with 500 managing directors earlier this week over bonus leaks in the media.

Lloyd Blankfein and other high-ranking Goldman Sachs execs will pocket about $111.3 million in stock in January in a delayed payoff from last year and their 2007 bonuses, Bloomberg reported.

[credit provider=”YouTube” url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHl-y2StbJY”] The CEOs of Barclays, RBS, HSBC, Lloyds and Santander UK are scrambling to make sure a peace deal between the government and their banks isn’t derailed, the FT reported.And the operation to battle against a government conquest has been dubbed Project Merlin by the bank heads.

[credit provider=”wikimedia commons” url=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Emilio_Largo_by_Adolfo_Celi_200x200.jpg”] Paul Krugman watching the movie Thunderball last night is shocked to see that the villain, after stealing two nuclear warheads, is demanding the equivalent of one eighth of the Goldman Sachs bonus pool as ransom.This prompts a reflection on inequality:

More than 70 per cent of Americans want big bonuses banned at the Wall Street firms that got federal bailout money, Bloomberg reported.

[credit provider=”Son of Groucho via Flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonofgroucho/4607241206/”] Morgan Stanley told its executives to prepare to budget between 10% to 25% less for bonuses this year, the Wall Street Journal reported.The cuts will likely affect traders, back-office staff and other bank employees, but strong performers in the i-banking division and in […]

AIB BANKERS WILL be paid €40m in salary bonuses this year – exactly six months after Brian Lenihan said: “We can’t go back to those mad bonuses.”

[preserve] [/preserve] Since people on Wall Street are making tons of money, the value of a bonus goes beyond the actual dollar amount.

UK’s British Business Secretary, Vince Cable, said this weekend that if UK’s banks didn’t show restraint when paying bonuses to their employees, the UK would tax them, presumably like Alistair Darling did last year, by 50%. 

Here is the City has an interesting calculation of which financial firms are most likely to give out the worst bonuses this year – a bonus of nothing, zero.

Pay attention Goldman youngsters, because the road to top dog starts EARLY, as evidenced by this man (see photo, right) and some other Goldman super stars.But for those interested in travelling it, the Telegraph throws out a rough estimate about how much a guy on the path to Goldman Sachs stardom […]

[credit provider=”AP”] HSBC is doubling the salaries of hundreds of its investment bankers in New York, London, and Hong Kong, according to Sky News.The exclusive report suggests that the move is aimed at targeting political complaints about banker bonuses.

[credit provider=”Flickr/trioculus” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/trioculus/sets/72157624801350339/with/4977634504/”] The funeral dirge has begun on Wall Street, where bonuses will drop an average of 12% this year.The hit will be the biggest in fixed-income trading. Investment bankers will do about the same as last year.

Goldman Sachs’ Edith Cooper recently spoke to Bloomberg Markets Magazine about what it’s like to be a woman at the top of Goldman’s management, and about what drives people to work there.

Nearly 6,000 Wall Street professionals who were surveyed by eFinancialCareers showed recently showed a funny trend.They took credit for earning large bonuses, and blamed their firm for paying them too-small bonuses.

[credit provider=”flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/mroconnell/4289189237/sizes/o/”] So much for this idea that it’s going to be a sad year on Wall Street characterised by layoffs and horrible bonuses.According to a survey undertaken by The Wall Street Journal pay is going to hit a record this year for the second year in a row.

Some people think it’s a good idea for regulatory officials to receive pay like the Wall Streeters they’re supposed to reign in.

European Union officials are on the brink of agreeing to new rules on bank pay, and the results could crush the continent’s financial services giants, according to the Financial Times.

Meredith Whitney predicted bonus season this year would be the worst since 2008 the other day.

A whopping one in four hedge funds have left London because of the 50% bonus tax, or coincidentally since the tax was instituted.Brevan Howard, Moore Capital, and Michael Platt’s BlueCrest are the biggest fund names to leave for more profittable pastures in Switzerland, but clearly they are three of many. […]

About 100 London-based Goldman partners earned an unusual mid-year bonus of tens of millions of pounds in stock this August.

A couple of days ago Meredith Whitney predicted that there will be 80,000 Wall Street layoffs in the US in the months ahead.

A judge ruled late last month that Julian Tzolov and Eric Butler will not have to repay their signing bonuses to Morgan Stanley after both were discovered for committing fraud and resigned from the company after less than a year.The reason each will get to keep his $4.5 million signing […]

Earlier this year it seemed like JPMorgan‘s Jamie Dimon might pull out of London after the UK government announced a 50% tax on bonuses.

At a party hosted by the magazine, The Square Mile, a banker joked about having to survive on just his bonus and “one maserati this year.”

Remember when the UK imposed a 50% bonus tax at the beginning of this year?

[credit provider=”The State Department”] Mea culpa: An earlier version incorrectly stated million in the headline, rather than thousand.. It has been corrected.A headline like the one above was always the risk when Obama named Jack Lew to head up the OMB, following the departure of Peter Orszag.