A reorg memo rarely tells you what it means for you. But it can change who staffs you, who credits your deals and who speaks for you when bonuses are set. Year-end is reorg season. The memos tend to land between October and January, after the budget is set and before...
Every fall, bankers ask us some version of the same question. The deal tape looks better. Profits are up. Why is my bank still talking about cuts? This year the question is sharper. Barclays says it will cut about 5,000 roles in 2026, roughly 5% of a workforce of...
The short answer Banks are still shrinking headcount, but mostly through performance-based cuts and other quiet tools, not classic reductions in force (RIFs). The two are different decisions. A RIF eliminates positions. A performance-based cut removes a person, and...
Wall Street just posted one of the best quarters in its history. Goldman Sachs had the best quarter in its 157-year existence. JPMorgan beat estimates by one of the widest margins in years. Trading and dealmaking revenue surged across every major bank. And yet, in...
Lazard just did something that’s easy to read the wrong way. Read as a standalone story, an 80-plus managing director reduction alongside a 91% drop in quarterly net income looks like trouble. Read in context — a record dealmaking market, a firm mid-turnaround,...
In investment banking, almost nobody leaves a seat cleanly. There’s a reorg, a desk gets consolidated, a staffing model changes, a relationship sours, or performance falls short of an increasingly moving bar. Whatever actually happened, what matters to the next...
