MTN Leak

When Leak heard UBS’s David Morland celebrated turning a year older last Monday by throwing paper around we thought it sounded like a busman’s holiday for an MTN trader.

Well, here at Leak we’re feeling pretty proud of ourselves. Just a few weeks after telling you guys that money never sleeps, we hear that some of you have booked yourselves in for a good old banker-fest at the cinema, to see how fictional financial market life has changed since the 1980s.

At first glance, one could be forgiven for taking the state of a certain Icelandic bank representative last Friday night as a metaphor for the country’s economy.

Money never sleeps. It’s true. Just ask Shia LaBeouf and Michael Douglas.

Listen – do you hear? It’s getting closer...

Spectacular. Majestic. Powerful. Life-affirming. The voice of an angel, nay, of a generation. Such were the plaudits that came to mind after David Morland seized the mic last Wednesday night.

This week marks the temporary departure of a cornerstone of the MTN market, Fiona Forrester from Barclays Capital, is off on maternity leave.

MTN-ers are a party-loving bunch, as they show us time and again in exotic locations such as Iceland, Norway, Sweden, France and, er, very often The Collection in London. But this week’s MTN party topped them all for excitement, fine food and wine. What, you weren’t invited? That’s because you don’t have your very own country estate in Suffolk.

Oh dearly departed Amaury Gossé from Commerzbank, what will Andrew Nicola do without you? First there was Amelie Darrort off to JPMorgan, and now you spread your wings and fly to Citi. Yes, Malek Benefetima is very nice, but will he be able to grow such a fine beard and hold a place so dear in Andrew’s heart?

Leak sometimes just wants to help the single girls out there. And so, in the spirit of a list doing the rounds of the City of the top banks at which to find an ideal husband, we decided to do a little reverse enquiry on London’s MTN desks. Take your pick, ladies:

There’s nothing quite like relaxing in your own little garden when the sun comes out — something that Conrad Baker has unfortunately been missing out on recently.

Leak had the pleasure of seeing not only Henry Coyle of Jefferies this week — well, we thought we should make the effort now he’s churning out the $300m KfW trades — but also Toby Croasdell and Chris Hill from Barclays Capital.