For Wall Street Bankers, the Thrill Is Gone

Sean George kneeled in the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan. He wasn’t praying. A gash below his right brow bled into his eye and down his nose. Then a knee to his groin sent him to the floor. George, 39, head of credit derivatives trading at Jefferies Group, was making his Muay Thai kickboxing debut at the church on June 22. His eye was swelling shut by the time he lost in a split decision. It was the happiest he’s been all year, he says. “Right now at work I’m making less risk decisions—and I enjoy taking risks,” says George, who headed investment-grade credit-default swap trading at Deutsche Bank before he joined Jefferies last year. “If you’re in it for the game and the fight, the game’s over and the fight’s over.”

Wall Street set pay and profit records half a decade ago by wagering billions of borrowed dollars on lightly regulated products that didn’t exist a generation earlier. The rewards, which swelled even after the financial system almost collapsed in 2008, have been replaced by restrictions and malaise, according to interviews with more than two dozen current and former bankers and traders. Some, like George, are seeking their kicks in less regulated jobs. Others say their view of the industry is turning gloomy as bad news piles up. JPMorgan Chase is being investigated for trades that caused at least $5.8 billion in losses, Goldman Sachs Group reported its worst first half since before Lloyd Blankfein became chief executive officer in 2006, and Barclays was fined a record £290 million ($450 million) for trying to rig global interest rates.