Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

Half of City accused of being drunk

Chris Skinner Author Avatar
by

Last month, City broker Venetia Thompson wrote a tell-all tale of
hedonism and debauchery in London's trading rooms, which was published
in the Spectator.  This month, according to the Daily Mail, Venetia Thompson is on the dole queue (see endnote).   

Mind you, looking at what she was saying, I'm not surprised. 

Her article was titled, "Essex and the City: My life as a 'posh bird' broker",
and tells the romps and high jinks at broker Cantor Fitzgerald.  In the
shockgen write up she tells of "getting up at 5.45 a.m. having often
been out until past midnight with clients ... I discovered that getting
up so early invariably meant not having enough time to sleep off the
alcohol and thus meant turning up at my desk at 7 a.m. still drunk."

Now she is writing everywhere. 

In the Daily Telegraph,
she recounts the pleasant story of "the "six-hour lunch when I heard a
colleague say to the sommelier: 'Just keep each bottle under £600',
only to be asked by his client if he would mind if he ordered a
particular Brunello that came in just short of £800."

And how everyone in the City is drunk.

"I'd
been drinking since 11.30am and, after an hour of staggering around
trying to find people I knew, while avoiding the perilous wooden
decking in my Louboutins, I retired to the bathroom for a nap.  I
arrived home at 4.30am. One of my clients was still on the dancefloor
as I left, and another had passed out under the chocolate fountain. I
was at my desk by 7am. Was I still a little drunk? Perhaps, along with
every other trader and broker at the party.  The reality is that half
the City is functioning on very little sleep at least two days a week,
and more often than not still drunk from the night before."

Half of the City drunk?  More like all of Britain according to most claims.

Well, at least she isn't hooked on Quaaludes, cocaine and all sorts of other concoctions, like the Wolf of Wall Street

The thing is, are traders unlike everyone else?

Apparently so.  Jason Zweig, author of the book "Your Money and Your Brain: How the New  Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich", found
that images of the brains of drug addicts about to take another hit
were indistinguishable from the brain scans of traders about to place
another trade.

Maybe that's why they are addicted personalities.

The
motto must therefore be that to make loadsamoney in the City of London
or Wall Street, you've got to be a drugged out crazy alcoholic with no
manners.

No wonder, we're so good at this in Britain!

 

Postnote:

(a)
she received her FSA licence in November 2007 and hence was only fully working away in
this environment for a max of three months before being thrown out by
Cantors, which is why she is telling all of the little she knows;

(b) her title "Essex and the City" is ripped off from my blog "Sexism and the City" written way back in September 2007;

(c) I live in Essex and don't like the aspersion of being typified as a 'typical Essex boy';

(d)
anyway mate, I'm orf to get a Bacardi Breezer or 20 wiv me chav dealer
chums darn at the old Bull and Bear in our yella fewawwis ...

UncategorizedCategories
Chris Skinner Author Avatar

Chris M Skinner

Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...

What is the future?

Learn more

Learn more about Chris

About Chris Skinner

The Past, Present And Future Of Banking, Finance And Technology

Fintech expert Chris Skinner: countries need digital transformation to remain competitive

Join me on Linkedin

Follow Me on X!

Hire Chris Skinner for dinners, workshops and more

Learn directly from from one of the most influential people in technology, gain insights from the world's most innovative companies, and build a global network.

Chris’s latest book

Chris Skinner’s ‘Digital For Good’ Book Launch Event – CFTE

Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on FinTech 2023

Chris Skinner
Commentator, CEO of The Finanser and best-selling author at The Finanser

Thinkers360 Thought Leader

Contact Me

Global Awards

Lifetime Achievement Award

Global 100 - 2024 Winner

Chris Skinner - Financial Markets Advisor of the Year - The Finanser - UK 2023

Best Financial Markets Advisor of the Year 2023

30 Best Regtech Blogs and Websites 2023

Kids creating the future bank | TEDxAthens

Captain Cake and the Candy Crew

Captain Cake Winner of a Golden Mom’s Choice Award

TWO-TIME WINNER OF A MOM’S CHOICE GOLD AWARD!

Alex at the Financial Services

Gaping Void's Hugh MacLeod worked with the Finanser