How dead is quant prop trading at IBs?

arbitraryname · April 5th, 2013, 4:16 pm

Is it really really dead? Are they just shrinking? Or is the activity just going to move to a more "lenient" regulatory regime?

iank · April 13th, 2013, 3:24 am

My impression is that prop trading at any bank that took US government money during the financial crisis (Goldman, JP Morgan, BA/Merril Lynch etc..) is now banned from prop trading. JP Morgan got into trouble as they tried to hide this in the London office (e.g., the London Whale trade). Prop trading is, of course, what hedge funds do. Also, firms like Blackrock which never took money.

emac · May 31st, 2015, 12:55 pm

Just wondering if anyone has any update on this?I still meet people who seem to be doing quantitative prop trading at big IBs (even American ones)... and i can't quite figure out what is going on.

BramJ · May 31st, 2015, 6:15 pm

prop trading still happens, but quietly on the back off client flow. however it does happen to a smaller extent and for smaller positions than before