There are four other important divisions, often called “support functions” that without which, investment banking could not be carried out as an activity.

Middle and back office

Also called “”operations” as opposed to the trading floor “front office”. This is usually not on the map of most ivy-league, over-achieving, hungry and ambitious candidates; it is possible to make a successful career and a great living in middle office. Don’t listen to what front-office staff say; they can sometimes be snobbish, but believe me, when things go wrong, or when trade tickets don’t square, and the book shows a loss, the trader will plead mercy and understanding: that is when they recognize the value of a great support team. Over the past few years, banks have made significant investments in terms of people both in middle and back office.

Twenty years ago, these would be considered second class citizens; today, they are considered partners in the great journey of trading and sales.

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Legal and Compliance

Very, very important! Banks process millions of transactions every year; they advise hundreds of clients; money flows on every desk. As such, the legal implications are huge. Banks after all need to do the right thing. Compliance is there to ensure that ethical standards are respected, and they weed out dishonest staff (note: banks prefer honesty and integrity to brightness and ambition, which is not surprising given that we deal with money). Compliance also monitors staff’s dealings in securities for their own account; we need to make sure that activities such as insider trading are not carried out. The legal department of a large investment bank usually employs bright lawyers that ensure the interests of the bank are protected at all times. Banking is a regulated activity, and since the intervention in 2008, the oversight has dramatically increased. One word of advice, do not enrol in a bank, thinking you can become rich by using insider information: you will get caught, I can guarantee that. It might take months or years, but it will catch up with you, wherever you are. One of the banks for which I worked employed ex-FBI agents to run their compliance department, so beware!