Drought for Rainmakers Threatens Job Cuts for Bankers
Investment banking will be the dark cloud over second-quarter earnings when US banks start reporting this week.
Quiet time on Wall Street.
Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
Like formerly high-flying stock markets, the value of investment bankers might be in the middle of a heavy crash. Their work has certainly dried up of late: Fees in the industry have been decimated in the second quarter.
Global bank executives were bemoaning the costly war for talent in the early months of this year, but Wall Street job cuts might now be around the corner. Investment banking will be the dark cloud over earnings when US banks start reporting on Thursday. The war in Ukraine, rampant inflation and the prospect of sharply rising interest rates have thrown financial markets into a tailspin. Trading desks for equities, rates, currencies and some bonds have been making hay, but dealmakers have been left watching the tumbleweeds.