Banking TNT

The decision was relatively straight forward for me. The negatives of investment banking – long hours, repetitive work, lack of non-finance exit options – mattered more to me than the money.
I considered sales & trading (in fact, I spent a summer at CSFB in NY), and was tempted to continue in that line of work after graduation.
Instead of defining the characteristics of each industry (there are plenty of resources out there for that, including my Management Consulted blog), I will address a short list of differences between the two career paths.
Let me caveat by saying THESE ARE NOT YOUR ONLY OPTIONS. People get carried away into thinking thats all there is.
#1 SALARY
This is the primary superficial distinction. Thats not to imply that salaries aren’t important. Banking salaries average 50-100% higher than consulting salaries, with the gap increasing as your seniority increases. Consulting attempts to compensates with small perks – from better travel allowances to more generous retirement packages.
Consultants always like to say this:
I know investment bankers make more money. But from a cashflow perspective, its exactly the same!
This means that consultants and bankers make similar base salaries, but at the end of the year, bankers are awarded a significant bonus which can be more than half of their total annual compensation.
Cashflow or not, the extra money is substantial and a defining driver of why many people do investment banking over business consulting. This is also a difficult issue for consulting firms with respect to employee retention. In my years as a McKinsey management consultant, easily half the people who left the firm went into the financial world (from hedge funds to PE), and salary was undoubtedly a major factor in the decision.
My advice is – after considering the 5 factors Ive listed here, you still think the pay difference (for analysts, averaging between $30-60K per year) would mean a significant difference in your professional job satisfaction, choose investment banking over consulting.
#2 LIFESTYLE ISSUES
The big differences here are:
-Hours. Bankers work brutal hours, no surprise. They can average 14-16 hours/day but it can get FAR WORSE.
My roommates in New York (both investment bankers at Goldman Sachs) would sometimes go several weeks before wed even exchange a word. Which meant not only were they getting in after I went to sleep (around 2am), but going back to the office before I woke up (around 7am).
Your second year as an investment banker gets easier – often in the 10-12 hours/day range but with occasional tough periods.
Management consultants average 12 hours/day, with the typical variations depending on client, team goals, etc
-Travel. Bankers do a little travel for roadshows, due diligence, etc but spend 90% of their time in one office until youre partner-level (you can expect more travel in private equity and asset management). Depending on firm – management consultants travel a lot. At the Big 3 (Bain, Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey), you can expect travel 50-75% of the time
-Relationship with firm employees and coworkers. This is an important but oft overlooked issue. Consulting firms have a very collegial atmosphere, where the focus is on getting work done and ensuring your professional success. This attitude permeates all interactions. Managers never yell, coworkers are supportive whenever possible, and companies are organized to provide consultants support with training, expertise, etc. Finally, networking is critical at consulting firms, and social events are focused on helping business consultants build contacts and relationships throughout the company.
Investment banks, on the other hand, have a more competitive and tense work environment. You can expect more stressful relationships with your bosses, youll probably be yelled at occasionally for mistakes, and coworkers are much less willing to help out colleagues (your success means theres more competition for the biggest bonuses).
In addition, youll have limited exposure across the company to other groups, departments, etc – less ability to network across the company.
Part 2 of this series on consulting versus banking continues tomorrow!

With financial and banking needs of people of India being established by private banks, the role of these banks in Indian economy has got itself firmly rooted. Some private banks have been fulfilling the banking requirements of people in India from nearly the last four or five decades and these have also contributed towards providing job opportunities. Having been known in the South India as the leading examples of progressive development, banks like Catholic Syrian bank, Karnataka bank and Lakshmi Vilas bank have already taken their names to great heights. Not only have they started a new era in banking since the 60s and 70s in the country, a number of people have also got employment because of these banks and have established a flourishing career for themselves. These banks are not only the pride of the country but their principles have become well recognised by the governments in the states and the centre as well as by the Reserve Bank of India. Over the years, they have brought out employment advertisements and have recruited thousands of people to provide services to the people and expand into new horizons. Today, these banks are being considered at par with the nationalised banks and enjoy the status of favoured banks by the RBI. The important thing about these banks is that they have been offering clerical and officer positions for interested students who want to prosper in the field of banking. From time to time, their recruitment advertisements have been closely followed by people and the applications have been dropped with the hope of finding employment in the respected banks. With most of the branches in south India, particularly in Kerala, the Catholic Syrian Bank offers a wide range of employment options for the people in and around the state. With Catholic Syrian Bank recruitment 2013 being suggested in the future, it will be a golden opportunity for all those aspirants who are rooting for bank jobs as their career. For them, the recruitment offer will be a chance to find a foothold in the sector and keep their footing in the way to a glorious career. Progressive growth is the feature of these banking jobs which has attracted many people and the lure to work in a bank which is having a rapid expansion in the modern day India, brings in plenty of applications, whenever the recruitment advertisements are published. Karnataka Bank recruitment 2013 will also meet a similar fate of receiving a large number of applications because people are assured of a growth in their careers after being part of this private bank which has shown resolute determination to become a leader in banking solutions. Another opportunity for the banking job aspirants is provided in the Lakshmi Vilas bank recruitment 2013, where posts of officers and clerks are on offer. Interested candidates need to submit their applications for different posts according to their eligibility, so that they can appear in the written exams and then go for the interviews for finally being recruited in these banks. It will be an achievement for these aspirants if they are able to make it to these rapidly expanding and progressing private banks of the country, a goal which is worth the time and effort.

Catholic Syrian Bank recruitment 2013, Karnataka Bank recruitment 2013, Lakshmi Vilas Bank recruitment 2013 a>

By any measure, the banking industry is facing challenging times. From a financial perspective, there has been a

dramatic decline in the performance of the banking marketplace. From a human capital perspective, it’s more important than

ever to have an engaged and high performing workforce. Banks are competing for talent at all levels of the organization and

must be diligent in developing compensation programs that attract, motivate and retain a high performing workforce. How can

banks develop and manage compensation programs that reward employees for the bank’s financial performance in this challenging

banking market and, at the same time, be effective in recruiting, motivating and retaining the key talent necessary for the

bank’s success?

A successful total rewards program should be designed to balance the needs of the organization with the needs of the

workforce. While designing a program can be challenging, it does not have to be daunting. Leaders must first identify the

needs of its workforce and then work to develop a total rewards approach that best meets these needs and fits with the

culture of the organization. To start, employers should take a holistic view of compensation, while considering the following

steps:

Step 1: Develop Compensation Philosophy a clearly defined compensation philosophy is the foundation from which a

compensation program should be built. In defining a philosophy specific to your organization, ask:
Where does the bank want to stack up relative to its peers?
What is the right “mix of the total compensation package?
Does it support the business strategy?
Is it aligned with shareholder and stakeholder interests?

Step 2: Determine which total rewards components best fit the organization and the workforce consider salary, bonus,

benefits, awards and recognition programs. What do employees really want? Employees want to feel valued, fairly compensated

and distinctly rewarded and recognized for their contributions to the organization.

Step 3: Review the effectiveness of current pay-for-performance programs. Are they achieving the desired results and

behaviors? In developing or reviewing your existing incentive plan(s) consider the following:

Objective of the plan(s) (e.g. reward for short-term vs. long term-performance)
Is it aligned with the bank’s strategic and business plans?
What are the internal and external influences?
What performance should it reward?
Does it reward high achievers significantly more than others?
Goal setting do the goals still make sense?
Are individual and department goals aligned with the overall strategic plan?
How will performance be assessed? What are the right measures?

It is also important to review the organization’s performance evaluation process to ensure that it is consistent across the

organization, accurate and objective. Employees want equitable evaluations. Again, it’s about employees feeling that they are

valued and treated fairly.

Step 4: Communicate, communicate, communicate. Make certain that all compensation programs are easily understood and well

communicated. Demystify plans so that employees understand how compensation is determined. Employees care just as much, if

not more, about how their pay is determined as what their pay is. When compensation plans are openly and frequently

communicated, employees tend to feel that they are being fairly compensated.

Specific to pay-for-performance plans, make certain that managers and employees have a solid understanding of how the plans

work:

Are the goals clear? Is there a clear line of sight?
Do employees feel empowered to meet goals?
Are there rewards for achieving individual and department goals?
Do employees understand the connection of their contribution to the bank’s success?
Is there a system to track results and provide feedback on a regular basis?

Meeting the needs of employees is not only about compensation. Other highly valued components include career development

opportunities, employee recognition and non monetary rewards, such as flexible work arrangements. In fact, it can be argued

that without these important components, even the most rewarding compensation package is not enough to recruit, motivate and

retain your valuable human capital.

The best way to make access to the suitable lender is to get dependent on the online service. With the help of the online mode, the people are able to browse the loads of websites within the very limited time. Thus, they are able to save their precious time in order to come across a suitable lender, who does not have any concern with the bad credit scores. Such loans are available in the form of bad credit loans that are quickly approved without caring for the bad credit records of the applicants. Lender allows the poor credit holders for the obtainment of the fund in the range of 1000 to 15000 or more than that. But they need to present their proofs of being employed in the reputed company. The lender collects the basic information of the jobbers. Only then, the fund is transferred into the bank account of the borrowers within no time. These loans are suitable for the salaried people because bad credit records are just avoided for them. And they are able to do away with their entire unwanted fiscal crises with no hurdle and with no restriction at all. These unseen monetary crunches could be in the form of miscellaneous unpaid pending bills and loads of debts.

It does not take the borrowers to get rid of their entire problems because the fund is into the hand of the borrowers, who are cursed with the blemished credit scores. These poor credit ratings are just like arrears, amount outstanding, defaults, late payments, payment overdue, poor credit rating, CCJs (Country Court Judgments), IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) and all that. These credits are not verified by the lender of bad credit loans. Rather, the bad credit holders are offered the golden opportunity to improve their credit scores.

Salaried people need to pay back the amount as soon as possible because this is the way to overcome the bad credit. Bad credit loans are ample help of finance to solve the entire problems of the people. In order to make the most of the fund through the help of the mentioned loans, the applicants only need to mention some fundamental information into the loan application from. After that, there is no hurdle at all in the path of the salaried people when they go to the office of the lender in order to go for the last minute fund.

There are several legal and regulatory compliance implications with offshore banking that I’d like to cover in this article. However, please don’t construe information on this site as legal guidance. I am providing this information for free based on my own experiences. Please consult your professional attorney or CPA (accountant) before you get involved with offshore internet banking.

What is an Offshore Bank

To be over simplistic, an offshore bank is a financial institution outside the shores of your country. If you are in Australia, a bank in the United States is an offshore bank to you. If you are in the United States, a bank in Singapore is an offshore bank to you. Therefore, the idea of offshore banking is relative.

A business or an individual, in this case you, may select an offshore bank account in a jurisdiction that is typically favorable in terms of taxes (often referred to as a tax haven by media), as well as in terms of legalities. In addition to choosing a jurisdiction with no to little income tax, for many, privacy and “secrecy” of banking activities are two of the bigger key considerations.

It goes without saying that access to your funds is important, as well as protection from corruption and stability in terms of certainty.

List of Common Offshore Online Banking Services

This is a brief list of services offered by offshore banks. This list is by no means a full comprehensive list of an offshore bank’s offerings, but rather a list of some of the most common offshore online banking services that businesses and individuals are offered:

Remote Deposits of funds
Direct Deposits of funds
ACH / Wire Transfers / EFT – Electronic Fund Transfers
Consumer and Commercial Lending
All Basic Credit Activities
Access to Capital – Offshore Debit Cards
Forex – Currency Exchange
Wealth Management
Offshore Trading Account
Offshore Brokerage Account
Administrative Services
Trustee Services

Note: Offshore banks typically tend to focus on either consumer or commercial banking. Within consumer, banks differentiate between retail consumer (the average individual) or private banking (meant for high net worth individuals).

Because each concentration involves a different cost structure from the bank’s perspective, when selecting an offshore bank for yourself, be clear on what type of consumer you are and what offshore online banking services you need. Gaining this clarity will ensure you are not disappointed in your choice.

List of Common Offshore Banks

No doubt the two most common names in offshore online banking are Switzerland and Cayman Islands. Just pick up any business journal or pop in a business based Hollywood flick. There is likely a mention of a Swiss bank account somewhere.

This is because as of at least 2012, these two jurisdictions held the most number of total deposits amongst all offshore online banks. Some other jurisdictions that offer offshore online banking are the following:

Singapore
Malaysia
Panama
Cook Islands
Dominica
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Antigua
Malaysia
Anguilla
New Zealand
Luxembourg
Bahamas
Barbados
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Cyprus
Cook Islands
Channel Islands
Monaco
Mauritius
Hong Kong
Malta
Macau
Regulating Offshore Online Banking

With complexity comes increasing regulation. The regulation around offshore online banking activities has steadily increased over the years, but according to many of its supporters it is still not enough. This means much more is in the pipelines. Regulation has particularly increased significantly after the significant events of September 11, 2011.

Regulatory guidance is issued and monitored by global bodies such as the International Monetary Fund or the IMF, who require financial institutions worldwide to maintain a certain level of operating or performance standard, specifically in terms of capital adequacy and liquidity. These key performance indicators are to be reported by banks on a quarterly basis to its designated regulator (such as the Fed or the FDIC in the United States).

The list of regulations is endless and quite comprehensive to say the least. Some notables are the Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulation and the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). These acts require banks and financial institutions to immediately report suspicious activity resembling money laundering to local government authorities despite stepping out of the BSA jurisdiction.

Another example is the information sharing requirements between a certain group of countries with regards to capital flow and taxation which was initiated by members of the European Union. On the other side of the pond, the taxing body of the United States, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires financial institutions to report to it names of businesses and individuals who benefited from interest income resulting from deposits in US based institutions.

The most notable in my opinion of recently enacted regulations is the US Patriot Act, which permits the US Government to seize all assets of a financial institution if it suspects that the institution holds assets that belong to a potential criminal. Several other countries have since followed suit.

I personally feel these regulations strengthen the global banking infrastructure. But then again I am just one person. There are others who feel in all sorts of ways about offshore online banking.

Interesting Fact: Did you know that just until the 1990s, individuals were allowed to create their very own offshore banks. This practice was stopped and now only large institutions are allowed to do so.

Connotations and Implications of Offshore Online Banking

It is not illegal to conduct offshore online banking, but such activities tend to carry with them a certain set of connotations and legal implications that you must be aware of and comply with. There can be severe fines, penalties and legal repercussions if you fail to comply with the legal and regulatory requirements.

Why you must be thinking? Because offshore banking historically has been used and abused by those who intended to evade taxes, as well as those that used funds for illegal causes. For example, organized crime networks heavily use offshore online banking to launder money.

But like I said, conducting offshore online banking isn’t an illegal activity. All persons conducting offshore online banking are required by most countries (depending on their residency) to disclose the activities and the outcomes, such as interest income for example.

Specifically in the United States for example, a US resident’s income is taxed on a global basis. This means that even interest earned overseas is subject to taxation by US authorities. Now although financial institutions are not required to disclose this information to countries of interest due the bank secrecy guidelines, individuals are required to disclose this information.

Similarly, one can legally avoid taxes in certain situations. For example, a resident of Country X living and working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may not have to pay taxes if Country X does not tax the individual’s global income.

Because there is no taxation on income earned in many Arab nations, interest income earned from deposits in a UAE bank account is not subject to tax. Further, the income is also not taxed in Country X. This is a common reason why so many affluent folks change residency and citizenship status, one that resonates most with their financial goals and objectives.

It’s a very interesting dynamic and there is a ton of opportunity for strategizing as you can imagine.

Dollar Concentration in Offshore Online Banking

Although offshore online banking is not a subject delved into by the average individual, the numbers involved (concentration of wealth and financial activity) are quite significant. You may find a lot of these simply fascinating.

For example, specialized banking economists and analysts indicate that half of the global capital (money) flows through one of the many offshore banks out there. The so called Tax Havens (think Switzerland) have over a quarter of the global wealth (think high net worth individuals and big companies). These Havens also hold over 30% of profits generated by companies based in the United States.

And that’s not it. Over 6 trillion US dollars owned by high net worth individuals are also reported to be held in offshore bank accounts in one shape or another.

Illegal Monies in Offshore Bank Accounts

Opportunists have identified weaknesses in the offshore banking system and thus have taken advantage of the systems to launder monies generated through illegal means and used for illegal purposes. According to the IMF, this amount is as large as 1.5 trillion US dollars on an annual basis. To put things in perspective for you, this is roughly 5% of the world’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

In addition to illegal monies, there are also monies that have evaded taxation as well as monies that were generated through fraud, graft and corruption. All in all, the amounts are super significant. And as I stated above, the two jurisdictions with the biggest concentration of these amounts are the Cayman Islands and Switzerland (as of 2012).

Offshore Internet Banking for Corporations of All Sizes

I have already stated this earlier, but offshore online banking is not only for large companies, but companies of all sizes as well as individuals. There are a certain set of requirements that any institution, an individual or a company have to meet in order to open and maintain an offshore bank account.

In fact, it is easier for individuals to open and maintain an offshore bank account before companies are required to complete additional forms in a specific manner when establishing an offshore internet bank account.

Corporations typically engage in offshore online banking when they contemplate one or any mix of the following purposes.

Cost containment (bank fees and charges)
Paying and receiving payments from vendors and customers in local jurisdictions
Asset protection strategies
International acquisitions and investments
Compensating local employees in an offshore jurisdiction
Political reasons – Stability and predictability
Establishing a local business presence
Again, this is not a comprehensive list of why companies engage in offshore online banking. There are several other reasons why a company may decide to establish an offshore bank account. The only true way to find out the best offshore bank for you, and whether your objectives will be met through offshore internet banking is by speaking to a professional who can walk you through the entire process.

Concluding Thoughts on Offshore Internet Banking

I gave you a ton of information to read and digest in this article. As you have read, offshore internet banking is used by several different constituencies for several different purposes with several different intentions.

There are some significant advantages that can be derived from opening an offshore bank account such as entering new global markets and some serious offshore tax planning. I obviously recommend opening an offshore bank account for the right reasons, with full compliance with laws and regulations. For those contemplating abusing the system, understand that bank secrecy is a weakening concept, and one that will continue to weaken over the years.

Countries are increasingly sharing information, some voluntarily and some while succumbing to pressure by more powerful nations such as the United States.