No Soup For Back Office Clerks

Clerks are a necessary evil on Wall Street. They are barely paid to performing mundane tasks. Monkeys could probably do their job, and better.

Sure, they come in useful, mostly if you are looking to snake a copy of the New York Post for free. Saving fifty cents is no small matter to managing directors.

Still, clerks have always harbored secret ambitions. But they might have to resign themselves to their fate as pond scum post Kerviel.

Jerome Kerviel’s unauthorized trading at Societe Generale SA ruined the chances of French bank clerks getting promoted to the trading floor, headhunters say.

``Kerviel knew the back office very well, exactly like Leeson,’’ said Shaun Springer, chief executive officer of London-based Napier Scott Executive Search Ltd. ``After Kerviel, it’s very, very difficult for middle-office staff to move on as traders.’’

Not all is lost however. There might be a silver lining for the clerks…

``French financial institutions underpay their mid-back office universe compared with equivalent functions at U.S. and U.K.-based rivals,’’ he said. Recruitment of risk managers and middle-office personnel may reach a record in 2008. ``The sophistication of front-office products makes middle-office personnel very important.’’

Kerviel Losses Erase Promotion Chances for Clerks
Bloomberg
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The content contained represent the opinions of 1440 Wall Street. This commentary in no way constitutes a solicitation of business or investment advice. It is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author.

Comments:

<< Back to main