Joris Luyendijk at The Guardian's banking blog is back with another candid report of the banking life in London.
This time, Luyendijk spoke with a derivatives trader in his 30s, who gave him an honest, fluff-free account of life on the trading floor, how the profession works and what powers the alpha male personas on the job.
The trader was also very open about his personal opinions of the the industry, reflecting on the passage of Glass-Stiegel and effectiveness of financial regulation overall.
On that topic, his opinion was quite clear. Regulators are "idiots" because smart people with an interest in finance go work for banks to make money.
After that, the only interested parties that are left are the dumb ones, who will get hired by regulators like the Financial Services Authority in England—
"It's a valid question: do we, as a society, want 25-year-old traders making £1m a year? If not, you need regulation, on a global scale. The trouble is, regulators are idiots. I am sorry to put it so bluntly but you can't expect it any other way. If an investment bank hires a graduate, two years later they will be making over £100,000. Meanwhile at the regulators you are getting £30,000. Why would a smart, aggressive, competitive 22-year-old decide to work for the Financial Services Authority?
