Salesmen Aren't Paid To Ask Too Many Questions
More in BUSINESS NEWS
back-up- Don't Be Fooled - Firms Are Hiring
- Analysts Predict More Asset Writedowns At Top Firms
- Janus, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Wachovia
- Top Firm 'Could Bleed To Death Slowly'
- Has Cityboy Finally Lost The Plot ?
- Lying On CVs Is On The Increase
- Cazenove, Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman, Hedge Funds
- Fidelity, Macquarie, Jefferies, Royal Bank of Scotland, Schwab, Wachovia
- Best Graduate Recruitment & Development Programme Awards - The Qualifiers
- Bodean's BBQ Competition - The Winners
- Welcome To Our Firm - You're Fired!
- Top Firm's Board Urged To Break-Up The Empire
- Click Here To Register For Free News E-Mail Alerts
- Merrill Pay Ruck, Grounds Private Jets To Save On Costs
- Pandit Or Thain - Who's Doing The Best Job ?
- Time To Get Things Into Perspective..........
- Graduates - Lambs For The Slaughter
- BofA Comes Good, Hedge Fund Killing, Bonuses
- JPMorgan, Bear, Barclays, Dresdner, Aberdeen, HSBC
- The Credit Crunch Christmas Party
- Worried About Being Laid-Off ? Don't Be - Here's Why...
- Firms Signing Up For Free Access To Global Candidate Database
- You've Gotta Sing This - Probably The Best Market Ditty Ever
- Hedge Funds Bag New COLOSTOMY Product
- The CDO Song
- CDOs - The Complicated Song
- Market Meltdown - Video Nasty
- A Few Good Men 'Cost Control' Video
- Give Me A Job - The Most Amazing Job Application Ever
- The 'H-E-D-G-E' Song
- So, What Exactly Is 'Subprime Lending' ?
- 'I Got Laid Off & It Hurt Like H.ll'
- His Phone Rang & We Knew He Was Toast
- The Bear Stearns Golfing Song
- Is Your Firm 'In Vogue' In This Credit Crunched World ? (Updated)
- Good As Goldman ?
- Merrill Posts Big Loss, More Writedowns Expected
- Deutsche's Boss Has Been At It Again
- Thain Gets Testy As Merrill Writes Down Another $9.75bn
- Yabba-Dabba-Doo! It's The Finkstones (BlackRock On Top)
- Possibly The Most Daring Trade Of All Time ?
- Doubts Over Pandit, Trouble At Deutsche, RBS & UBS
- BNP Could Buy Dresdner, Credit Suisse Boss Defends 'One Bank'
- Big Boss Goes - Another One Bites The Dust
- The Latest On The Market Turmoil
- US Regulators To Clamp Down On Spread Of False Rumours
- Fortune's Top 25 Banks / Securites Firms By 2007 Revenue
- The Top 12 Completed M&A Deals
- Job Co.k-Up Causes Right Old Stink
- The Art's Gone, The Jet's Gone - It's All Gone
Related Content
'So, Hector Sants, the Chief Executive of UK market regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA), says that bankers failed to understand some of the products they were selling and trading in the run up to the credit crunch.
Well, let me tell you something about sales and trading - you'd sell your grandmother if you had to in order to get your sales fix! And you'd trade in human remains if you could guarantee a nice risk-free profit. That's the nature of the beast.
I've often been in presentations where I didn't feel entirely comfortable with a product, but if there was pressure from syndicate to make a sale, and the pay-out was juicy enough, I'd feel I had to do my job, and take the money. (And I think I'm one of the more moral salespeople!). And, before the complaints start to pour in, you need to remember that the guys who do have the balls to stand up in meetings and say: 'Chaps, this is a rubbish deal', tend to be the ones that get fired or paid a zero bonus. The reality is that people like me are paid not to ask too many questions.
Now, because my firm didn't go in for those once-thought-sexy mortgage backed deals, I have always been highly sceptical of the sheep-like craze for CDOs and leveraged structured products. I also happen to think that hedge funds often don't hedge at all, and take outrageous risks that are not always understood or authorized by their clients. But would I have sold those deals if I had been given the chance ? You bet I would - I'm a salesman, and I'd have only been doing my job.
If Sants is looking for some folks to blame, he should actually look no further than the structurers of these products - the geeks who really knew it was all smoke and mirrors from the off. Maybe the FSA should get digging, find a few of them, and throw 'em in jail'.
READER COMMENT
1. 'Typical salesmen - sells the sh.t, and then blame someone else for inventing it!'.
To send this to a friend, please use the 'E-Mail' button immediately under the title.
