Morning Coffee: HSBC’s devoted traders to work through night. Ex-Goldman ED delivering takeaways

As we’ve noted before, HSBC’s foreign exchange traders seem to be among some of the best in the industry. They may not rank highly on the Euromoney FX rankings, they may not earn the most money, they may not work for the most prestigious bank, but they have some solid client flows and they generate revenues even when volatility is poor and bigger rivals are floundering. Should it come as any surprise therefore, that come Scottish referendum night, HSBC’s devoted currency trading desks will (seemingly) be the only ones pulling an all-nighter?

While other traders will be in bed tonight as the referendum votes are gathered, HSBC strategist Daragh Maher told the Wall Street Journal that HSBC’s desk plans to stay open throughout. The bank’s traders will reportedly work shifts in order that they can get ‘some’ rest, but the Maher said coffee and Red Bull will be in demand as the team stays awake into the early hours. HSBC traders’ dedication stands in contrast to FX trading heavyweight Deutsche, which told the WSJ it will have ‘no special measures in place’ should its London trading desks wish to stay open. Most traders reportedly plan to go home as usual tonight and arrive an hour or so early on Friday to pick up the verdict.

Separately, Bloomberg has unearthed an ex-Goldman Sachs executive director in equity derivatives trading who got so sick of eating poor takeaway food at Peterborough Court that he decided to set up a food delivery business of his own. Cambridge economics graduate Rahul Parekh quit Goldman after four years earlier in 2014 and now runs Eat First, a healthy takeaway company. “At Goldman, I used to cycle between Itsu on a Monday, and a Pret on a Tuesday, and a Leon on a Wednesday and a Pod on a Thursday and it just gets so boring after a couple of weeks,” said Parekh, whose plan is to deliver varied healthy meals to bankers who won’t have to leave the office in search of sustenance ever again.

Meanwhile:

FX traders who’ve been let go by banks are being picked up by Charles-Henri Sabet, a 52-year-old former Swiss backgammon champion and longtime FX trader and tennis player. He’s building a business. (DealBook)

Simon Pepper, State Street’s head of FX trading, has been asked to stay out of the office. (Financial Times) 

UBS has taken action against staff who’ve been sending each other messages on What’sApp. (Reuters)

Linda Crow, a managing director in strategic equity derivatives has inexplicably left UBS and is, ‘looking for a new challenge.’  (Financial News) 

Citigroup has been building its derivatives business under Michael Corbat. At the end of June it had $62 trillion of open contracts, up from $37 trillion in June 2009. (Bloomberg) 

Blackrock’s still building its alternatives business. It just hired Lars Meisinger, who was head of business strategy at FRM. (Financial News)

Caffeine addiction by profession. (Business Insider)  

What to say when someone asks you to tell them about yourself. (CityAm) 

Did you go to one of the best schools in the world? (McSweeney’s)