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There are a number of workplaces where I'd have been willing to rely on "probably wouldn't be fired", but a bank is definitely not one of them. Congratulations

There are a number of workplaces where I'd have been willing to rely on "probably wouldn't be fired", but a bank is definitely not one of them. Congratulations on shipping something useful in the face of that risk and uncertainty.

op00to 5y ago
Investment banks at that time were a little bit different.
simonh 5y ago
The trading community walk on a knife edge all the time, it's not a place for the faint of heart. I used to support derivatives trading systems and a few times there were issues that meant they'd lost control of orders on an exchange. Scary stuff. It requires a crazy mixture of careful, deliberate, calculated risk control on the one hand; but once you commit to something you jump in with both feet and throw everything into it. You need to be both meticulously risk averse, and also willing to do whatever needs to be done when it needs doing, and accept responsibility. It was great!
- gjvc 5y ago
  An excellent description.
- ravibala1 5y ago
  I worked at UBS on the G10 FX options desks in Stamford and Singapore. Remember being very surprised by how my interview and training were incredibly stressful. It was very intentional as well, where my trainer knew the exact reactions he was creating with his behavior. It was only a couple of weeks in, when I had to react within 60 seconds (USDJPY option expiry, NYC cut) on a position our front book would have lost MM on; with senior sales MDs screaming at me as well. Lo and behold, I was just used to it and could focus and execute based on my training. My wife calls my thinking on the training - Stockholm syndrome. I still believe those skills were incredibly valuable for me, just perhaps delivered in a more 2021 acceptable approach.
hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
> but a bank is definitely not one of them Investment banks are basically risk-management shops. The partner made an assessment and evaluated the potential benefits as higher than risks. Note the word "probably".
- qwhelan 5y ago
  Also worth mentioning that "unapproved software" on bank infrastructure is what an aggressive prosecutor would call "felony bank hacking".
  - AmericanBlarney 5y ago
    Almost definitely false. Provided you weren't doing anything intentionally malicious with it, the risk would be that regulators might fine the bank for inadequate controls. As such, the bank might fire you for doing something that could lead to such a situation, but I don't see a criminal charge. There was actually quite a decent bit of "unapproved" software in use at one of the banks I worked in - mostly stuff that was in the process for approval, but that could take forever, so it was reasonably common for teams to run through the checks themselves (security scan, license review, etc) and move forward while the official review confirmed no issues.
    - qwhelan 5y ago
      Well the login message I was greeted with on every ssh connection certainly threatened criminal prosecution for unapproved software at the extremely large bank I worked at. Unlikely? Sure. But a lawyer somewhere thought it was worth reminding me 10x/day, so going to assume it's possible provided your unauthorized software caused a serious monetary loss.

op00to 5y ago

Investment banks at that time were a little bit different.

simonh 5y ago

The trading community walk on a knife edge all the time, it's not a place for the faint of heart. I used to support derivatives trading systems and a few times there were issues that meant they'd lost control of orders on an exchange. Scary stuff. It requires a crazy mixture of careful, deliberate, calculated risk control on the one hand; but once you commit to something you jump in with both feet and throw everything into it. You need to be both meticulously risk averse, and also willing to do whatever needs to be done when it needs doing, and accept responsibility. It was great!

gjvc 5y ago
An excellent description.
ravibala1 5y ago
I worked at UBS on the G10 FX options desks in Stamford and Singapore. Remember being very surprised by how my interview and training were incredibly stressful. It was very intentional as well, where my trainer knew the exact reactions he was creating with his behavior. It was only a couple of weeks in, when I had to react within 60 seconds (USDJPY option expiry, NYC cut) on a position our front book would have lost MM on; with senior sales MDs screaming at me as well. Lo and behold, I was just used to it and could focus and execute based on my training. My wife calls my thinking on the training - Stockholm syndrome. I still believe those skills were incredibly valuable for me, just perhaps delivered in a more 2021 acceptable approach.

hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago

> but a bank is definitely not one of them Investment banks are basically risk-management shops. The partner made an assessment and evaluated the potential benefits as higher than risks. Note the word "probably".

qwhelan 5y ago
Also worth mentioning that "unapproved software" on bank infrastructure is what an aggressive prosecutor would call "felony bank hacking".
- AmericanBlarney 5y ago
  Almost definitely false. Provided you weren't doing anything intentionally malicious with it, the risk would be that regulators might fine the bank for inadequate controls. As such, the bank might fire you for doing something that could lead to such a situation, but I don't see a criminal charge. There was actually quite a decent bit of "unapproved" software in use at one of the banks I worked in - mostly stuff that was in the process for approval, but that could take forever, so it was reasonably common for teams to run through the checks themselves (security scan, license review, etc) and move forward while the official review confirmed no issues.
  - qwhelan 5y ago
    Well the login message I was greeted with on every ssh connection certainly threatened criminal prosecution for unapproved software at the extremely large bank I worked at. Unlikely? Sure. But a lawyer somewhere thought it was worth reminding me 10x/day, so going to assume it's possible provided your unauthorized software caused a serious monetary loss.