The U.S. government has has its scalp from the BNP Paribas sanctions affair. As was widely reported yesterday, Georges Chodron de Courcel, one of BNP’s chief operating officers, has resigned. De Courcel had been with the French bank for 42 years. No mention was made of BNP’s potential $10bn fine at the time of de Courcel’s exit, but the New York Times said de Courcel had been targeted for dismissal by the New York financial regulator, which has been calling for heads to roll.
So far, so painful. Except that Courcel’s exit is being mitigated by a hefty payoff to be made annually until his death. As our French site reported yesterday, Courcel is to receive a retirement package of €330k a year for the rest of his life. That’s not quite as large as Fred Goodwin’s £342k (€427k) annual stipend, but it’s still nothing to be sniffed at.
Separately, the Evening Standard has come across a ‘headhunter’ who is taking his clothes off on the tube in protest against the lack of air conditioning there. 23 year-old Mungo Strachan, a senior consultant in audit and risk at Apollo Solutions, has been commuting to work in his boxer shorts and a pair of shades. “I’m a Scotsman so these temperatures for me are tropical,” he said in reference to the recent heat. He added that he will continue with his protest even when it’s raining and would be prepared to take the boxer shorts off too, but fears that it might have repercussions with his boss.
A grainy reproduction of Mungo’s tube outfit is visible below. It’s yet to be seen whether this will endear him to clients and candidates.
Meanwhile:
Nomura hired Matthew Johnson from ETF Securities as a managing director in its equities division. (Financial News)
Upset at Commerzbank moves most of its UK M&A team to Frankfurt. (Bloomberg)
Two partners have left Goldman Sachs. (Bloomberg)
Barclays’ U.S. M&A business has rehired Gary Antenberg who left for Deutsche last October. (WSJ)
Analyst predicts that RBS’s share price will continue sinking. (CityAm)
Oxford Economics has hired an economist from SocGen. (Financial News)
UBS made 75 of its employees dress in Lululemon gear and descend upon Central Park for a “flash mob” yoga session in order to win a deal. (Financial News)
The neurochemistry of praise and criticism. (HBR)
Goldman’s benign-looking Asian recruiters offer interview advice. (Goldman Sachs)
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