Cast your mind back to the year 1996. That year saw the Dow close above 6,000 for the first time. The Chicago Bulls won their fourth NBA title, and Mel Gibson’s Braveheart filled theaters around the country. It was also the year when things started to go wrong for Deutsche Bank. At least that’s the view […]
Goldman Sachs has had a string of ugly news headlines lately over its dealings with Libya’s sovereign wealth fund, its role in the collapse of a British retailer and its ties to an investment fund in Malaysia embroiled in a corruption probe. But this post is not about those things.
The days grow shorter. A dusting of frost appears. The season seems to arrive earlier every year. Yes, it’s time for the annual speculation about banker bonuses.
A reader of the Financial Times this week might have felt momentarily transported back to the heady days before the financial crisis. For on its pages was a full-page ad in vivid color listing recent transactions completed by the busy bankers at Barclays. Such chest-thumping displays are rare among investment banks these days. Why would […]
Mahony Partners will soon adjourn to celebrate Christmas, and by tradition we will read from A Christmas Carol, the classic story of the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge, a pitiless banker. One small character in that great story has always been my favorite: Mr. Fezziwig, the merchant to whom the young Ebenezer is apprenticed. Fezziwig not […]
The investment-banking reformation is picking up steam, with converts joining its ranks by the day. And like the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, it promises to be tumultuous and far-reaching, while leaving the promise of heaven just as uncertain.
Three recent deals involving investment banks suggest a reshaping of the industry is underway, but beyond the perfunctory coverage of their press releases the deals haven’t drawn much attention. But each says something significant about where the industry has been – and where it might be headed.
The Barclays annual shareholder meeting last week was a loud and lively affair, with howls of protest directed at CEO Bob Diamond and Chairman Marcus Agius over the bank’s pay practices. Here’s how it was reported by the New York Times: “The atmosphere at the meeting was hostile from the start, and the speeches were […]