Deutsche Bank is developing a well-deserved relationship for a novel approach to rewarding staff. After last year’s decision to withhold performance bonuses in the investment bank, it came up with a cleverly complex system of retention bonuses which are on track to be worth nothing at all when they vest in 2021. It then tried to buoy staff spirits in London with some sort of artisanal coffee stand in the lobby of its offices in London. Now it’s gone a step further again.
Business Insider reports that Deutsche has granted a full week of extra holiday to all the employees in its London office, with effect from April this year. “We are making this change because it is important to Deutsche Bank that our people achieve a good work/life balance,” said the bank in a memo sent out just before Christmas. Employees at Deutsche Bank in the UK will now get a full 30 days’ annual holiday, up from 25 previously.
While this will raise eyebrows on Wall Street, where 10 days’ annual leave are common, it’s also raising eyebrows at Deutsche Bank itself. The German bank is still to announce its bonuses and has been making pre-bonus redundancies to prevent its pool being spread too thinly. The supposition among Deutsche Bank staff is that the extra holiday entitlement is a fop to imminent disappointment.
Separately, fancy offices are becoming a thing. J.P. Morgan is getting a shiny new global one in Manhattan, UBS has got one which flushes the toilets with rainwater harvested on its roof. Bloomberg has gone one (in London) which has sparkly ceilings and “acoustic attenuation.” None of this, however, compares to the Kings Cross office of XTX Markets, the FX trading firm. Quartz is among several publications to have seen inside. The office designer channeled a “steampunk Western” theme and has included a water feature that runs through the floor, a replica of the Apollo 11 landing capsule equipped with game consoles, and a sleeping area which looks like something from a high end mountain shack. Average compensation at XTX is $317k a year.
Meanwhile:
J.P. Morgan’s office might cost $3bn. (BreakingViews)
J.P. Morgan’s new building won’t be finished ’til 2024, whereupon it will be the tallest in the country. (Financial Times)
J.P. Morgan’s new skyscraper will house 15,000 people. (Wall Street Journal)
Despite Brexit, Bank of America extended the lease on its London office building for ten years. (Bloomberg)
Nomura has been put on negative credit watch by Moody’s because of its overseas investment banking aspirations. (Nikkei)
Barclays (still) wants its investment bankers to work more closely with its corporate bankers. (Financial News)
Peter Tague, Citi’s global co-head of M&A who joined in the mid-90s, is leaving. (Business Insider)
The global head of fixed income capital markets at Morgan Stanely has died aged 43. (Bloomberg)
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