As we approach year-end, banker bashing is very much in vogue. What many thought would be a fairly shortlived phenomenon is building into a crescendo, as the contrast between the fortunes of those who work in the investment banking industry and 'ordinary Joe' becomes more apparent.

And with lawmakers, church officials and just about everybody else up in arms over the bonuses contemplated by the world's biggest banks so soon after the financial crisis, it should come as no surprise that some of the industry's most successful traders and M&A dealmakers are thinking that the time has come to quit their positions with the big firms. One banker told Here Is The City: 'Why would any revenue earner want to work for a big firm today ? Bankers at the likes of Goldman are vilified for being successful, while those at Bank of America and Citi are bashed about for needing bail-outs. It's a lose lose situation. Who needs the hassle ? And who wants to work in an organisation where the upside is limited by bandwagon-jumping politicos ?'.

So the big firms are preparing themselves for the departure of significant numbers of their senior staff, many of whom will leave to either start their own hedge funds, or join smaller M&A boutiques like Greenhill & Co or Cowen Group, where they can operate under the radar. And the irony of all this, especially on the hedge fund front, is that some firms, concerned that they cannot pay star traders what they need to, and wanting to protect revenues as far as possible, are now increasingly looking at providing seed capital for departing staff start-ups, in exchange for equity.

But governments around the world won't care that some of their largest banks will become less profitable (as they lose revenues when big-hitters move), because they will also become smaller and engage in less risky activities. Implementing pay restraints for the industry is not just a popular cause that will go down well with voters, it will also serve to address the 'too big to fail' issue, as banks are forced into engaging in more (and boring) traditional businesses.

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