How Does a Bank Work?

First post in a long series on Principles of Quantitative Development , on how an investment bank works.

Here is the agenda of these posts. And more than you wanted to know about all sorts of agendas.

What is a trading platform? Why does everybody want it? And how do we get one? Third post in this series on quantitative development.

A short introduction to the static structure of an investment bank. We will have much more to say about it later on.

Front Office, the world and customer facing side of an investment bank, houses both the rainmakers and rogue-traders, along with their support teams.

Economists (with too many hands) find their place in Front Office of investment banks.

Sales – another crucial team in the Front Office of any bank.

The profit centers of an investment bank, trading desks command enormous prestige. And bonuses, which can easy range up to a few times their annual salary.

On the vital role of quantitative developers in an investment bank.

Moving from the risk taking side (Front Office) to the risk control side (Middle Office), this post gives you a general outline of what this second office does.

Risk management is a critical function of Middle Office. Here is a look at Credit Risk Management.

Market Risk Management Analytics is where I started my banking career. It may be a good place for quantitative professionals to start. Here is a summary of what MRM and Analytics do.