Euroblog

Never let it be said that banking life isn't exciting.

Germans are known to be a cautious people with a profound love of rules (every tried to jaywalk in Hamburg? You couldn’t get dirtier looks if you’d done it in your pants).

BNP Paribas is often lauded, and is rather proud of, its fine selection of wines and cheeses for in-house dining. But Alexandra Basirov, co-head of SSA DCM, found a new client feasting on the bank’s wares on Thursday.

One SSA funding official gave Blog an interesting take on the fluid dynamics of banking job markets — they’re a bit like Champ Man.

The rebirth of EuroWeek as GlobalCapital has thrown up a number of unexpected incidents along the way. But a ban from the World Bank Group was one of the most shocking.

Blog caught enough of last week’s Brit Awards to see James Corden introduce Beyoncé and then embarrass himself after her performance by gushing about his proximity to such celebrity. Then we saw Katy Perry do an awful impression of an English accent, presumably modelled on erstwhile husband Russell Brand. But who was covering the awards for the banking community?

Blog can’t quite work out whether it is surprising that the majority of investment bankers polled last week hated Valentine’s Day, or completely unsurprising. On the one hand, bankers (speaking in strict stereotypes, of course) are happy for an excuse to flash the cash. On the other hand, most are also known for being able to make rational decisions.

Euroblog descended to the vaults of London’s Royal Exchange last Wednesday to kick off a new Chinese year with HSBC, only to discover that the contrary to popular belief, the renminbi was already fully convertible — into fat.

It is always dangerous when a global attempt to stay clear of alcohol for a month coincides with a global risk asset correction. There will have been some very smug people around half way into Dry January, when the S&P500 was in positive territory for the month and there was still plenty of work for syndicate managers to do.

It comes to something when after a long week at work, Munich’s bankers cannot unwind with a quick trip to the Austrian Alps. At 5pm on a Friday it is common to see suited men and women scurrying for their cars and making straight for the border on the A8.

In public relations timing is everything, but even the best laid plans of a top notch outfit like French SSA borrower, Cades can come a cropper when going up against the most titillating story of the year so far.

It’s well known that investment bankers are fans of adrenaline generating holidays, but Blog was particularly impressed to hear that one of our favourite SSA bankers decided that heading off to Whistler to embrace winter sports was just not adventurous enough.