Morning Coffee: The 100 traders aged 35+ suddenly commanding $30m pay. Credit Suisse whistleblowers are doing fine
Japanese rates traders have been all the rage for a while now, but after Goldman Sachs alone lost (and regained) $100m in early April on trades relating to Japanese rates, it's understandable that this rage has become only more frenzied.
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Bloomberg reports that "seasoned" yen rates traders, who were surplus to requirement after the Bank of Japan set a limit on 10-year Japanese government bond yields in 2016, are now commanding pay packages of $30m each. The demand for yen rates traders began rising when the Bank of Japan relaxed its yield curve control policy in 2023. It's since become stratospheric after yen trading volume soared to a 13-year-high in April 2025 while spreads between 30 year and five year Japanese government bonds rose to their highest level since 2002.
When demand for the traders first heated up last year, Bloomberg said that yen rates traders at large banks in Tokyo numbered only around 100 people. Yen rates traders with solid pre-2016 experience are presumably an even rarer find. By definition, they are aged at least 35. Some are older: 54-year-old Tadashi Masumoto, was contemplating retirement when he was suddenly selected to build a new team at BCG Group. It's conceivable that others will be lured from the golf course, the beach and a life of fine dining.
Bloomberg says it's not just banks hiring the seasoned traders, but hedge funds, which are paying the $30m packages. Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Capula Investment, Dymon Asia, Balyasny and Modular Asset Management have all made yen rates hires recently.
Demand is such that even yen rates traders who lost money during ructions last August are in demand. It's a reminder that jobs in financial services are at the whim of the markets, and of the central banks.
Separately, there is still money to be made from Credit Suisse, but only if you've diligently laid the groundwork for a long while.
The Wall Street Journal reports that two Credit Suisse whistleblowers are sharing up to $150m after they informed US authorities that Credit Suisse wasn't living up to its promise not to help US clients evade taxes in 2014. The two reportedly feel "vindicated" after "risking everything" to reveal that Credit Suisse had been up to no good. One was reportedly hanging out in a Zurich café and felt compelled to shout, "They are lying!” at a TV where a Credit Suisse executive was professing the bank's innocence.
They are not alone in earning more than macro portfolio managers in Tokyo. Other such cases include a UBS banker who received $15m for a whistleblowing case in 2012.
Meanwhile....
Trump is considering increasing taxes on people earning over $2.5m a year to 40%. (FT)
The top US tax rate was 39.6% before Trump took office in 2017. He lowered the rate to 37% but scheduled that reduction and other changes to expire after 2025. (WSJ)
BlackRock wants managing directors in the office five days a week too. (FT)
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, the CEO of Klarna, thinks he's cut too many jobs because of AI and now wants to hire cheap humans to do customer services jobs instead. He's targeting students and rural populations who are cheap and willing to work on an "Uber" type basis. (Bloomberg)
George Maddison, the chair of Jefferies' FIG group, who joined from Credit Suisse in 2021, is retiring. (Trading View)
UBS hired Marco Guarino from Morgan Stanley and made him head of equity syndicate for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. (Financial News)
Barclays' chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan might earn a £14.3m maximum payout for 2025. Last year, the maximum was £9.8m. (Financial News)
European high yield issuance is back in the room. (Bloomberg)
Net income at Coinbase fell 91% in the last quarter as crypto trading activity declined. (Decrypt)
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