Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag quotes Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan, who has confirmed that emerging from the financial crisis relatively unscathed has given the firm an edge in the hiring stakes.

Dougan is quoted, saying: 'Even during the crisis, we were viewed as a very attractive employer. We have been able to retain existing employees, and also make new hires, without having to pay multi-year bonus guarantees'.

In the meantime, Reuters reports that Macquarie is keeping a lookout for boutique investment banking acquisitions in the US, but, like Credit Suisse, has been taking advantages of the financial climate to beef up its investment banking headcount. Macquarie is said to have increased investment banking headcount in the US by a third in the last 18 months or so, and now has around 270 bankers on the ground there.

And Morgan Stanley is said to have over a dozen investment bankers in China, working as advisers to China Investment Corp., the country's $200bn sovereign wealth fund. Although the bankers, who are thought to have been there for several months, are on Morgan Stanley's payroll, it is hoped that they will make useful connections, make themselves indispensable and generally be well-placed to pick-up future any business which may be on offer.

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV last week, former Merrill Lynch brokerage head Robert McCann said that he feels it is wrong of Bank of America to try and keep him out the market by using the 'non-compete' clause in his employment contract. McCann said: 'I want to rejoin the industry. I am being kept from doing that in, I think, an unfair way'. McCann has taken the matter to court, but the judge suggested that the parties try and sort the situation out between themselves. McCann, 51, is thought to be wanted by UBS to run its US brokerage unit.

Finally, The Wall Street Journal reports that former Morgan Stanley banker Du Jun has been sentenced to 7 years in clink in Hong Kong (and fined $3m), for  insider trading. He bought $11m worth of Citic Resources stock at a time he was working on a deal for the company to acquire oil-field assets in Kazakhstan and China. Silly banker.

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