Let Junior Bankers Sleep All Day

A thing you sometimes hear is that Goldman Sachshas lost a lot of prestige since the financial crisis, but you wouldn't know it from the way every other bank copies what Goldman does. For instance, a while back, Goldman's top-secret research lab discovered the concept of not working its junior bankers to death, and told analysts and associates not to come to work between 9 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. on Sunday. Since then, lots of other big banks have developed their own junior-banker-lifestyle technologies, some well thought out (JPMorgan hired extra bankers to make up for the work it's losing by giving analysts one free weekend a month), and some less so (hi Bank of America!).

Yesterday Credit Suisse raised the stakes by four hours, saying that "associates should not be in the office from 6 p.m. on Fridays though 10 a.m. on Sundays." Well played, Credit Suisse, well played, although the details are a little weak: "Credit Suisse emphasized in the memo that, for live deals, 'junior bankers in all relevant groups must be in the office to work together,' " early-Sunday conference calls are allowed, and you gotta answer e-mails and stuff even on your Saturdays off. Some relevant points: