Citi joins Goldman in asking junior bankers to reveal if they accepted other jobs

[NEW YORK] Citigroup is asking its new class of investment-banking analysts to disclose whether they’ve already accepted a job offer from another firm, in the latest step by banks to clamp down on aggressive recruitment by private equity firms.

First-year analysts will be required to complete an “attestation” intended to “foster a fair and transparent environment,” according to a memo sent to analysts’ managers on Monday (Jul 21) and seen by Bloomberg News. The attestation is expected to be a one-time form, but the bank might also ask analysts to repeat it annually, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Each analyst’s situation will be assessed on a “case-by-case basis,” the bank said in the memo, which was confirmed by a spokesperson for the bank.

Citigroup’s move echoes steps by other investment banks to dissuade analysts from leaving after short stints and taking their talent elsewhere. Private equity firms have become more competitive in recent years by recruiting young bankers – freshly trained at a cost to investment banks – with the promise of higher pay.

JPMorgan Chase has said it will fire any analysts who accept outside job offers within 18 months of joining the firm, and private-markets firms such as Apollo Global Management have said they’ll scale back such early stage recruitment efforts.

Bloomberg News reported that Goldman Sachs Group will be asking its new analysts to confirm every three months whether they have taken outside offers.

Goldman has also leveraged its own private markets arm as a sweetener to investment-banking analysts thinking of leaving. It plans to offer a select group of interns the guarantee of a move to its asset- and wealth-management division after two years of work in its investment-banking business, according to a memo last week.

In May, Morgan Stanley introduced a policy to require junior bankers to promptly disclose if they have taken a future job offer outside the bank, according to a person familiar with the matter. Analysts who do not comply could be fired, the person said.

Citigroup is also tightening oversight at a time when it is trying to build out its investment bank under new leadership. Head of Banking Vis Raghavan, who joined the firm last year from JPMorgan, has recently hired senior bankers from his former firm and Goldman in a push to increase the share of Citigroup’s work with the same private-market investors who are scouting for recruits at investment banks. BLOOMBERG