Wall Street Bankers Rush To China

Over the past four years, on average, 1.5% of Wall Street's high-end talents have returned to the mainland and 1.5% have returned to Hongkong.

"People are surprised at my leaving Cantor," Boyer, 42, said in an interview. "This job hopping is in line with the development trend of the world, and the world is developing to a new stage."

Boyer and 3 colleagues resigned from Cantor the same day.

The Hongkong High Court ruled that they had not attempted to sabotage and rejected Cantor's claim.

The dispute highlights how aggressive Chinese financial companies have become in seeking talent.

They raise salaries and hire headhunters to hunt for talent, aiming at senior members of Wall Street's mature financial institutions, who can bridge the gap between Chinese state capitalism and the international market.

As China's state assets are disintegrated and sold, and Chinese industry giants step up their pace of foreign mergers, global bankers are being attracted to the world's second largest economy.

According to the analysis of Eurasian joint capital, China's overseas direct investment increased by 10 times in 2001 compared with 10 years ago, reaching 68 billion US dollars.

"Chinese banks are coming out of the country and they have stories to tell," said a senior partner in Hongkong, a senior international partner in search for investment bankers of Guangxi, China. "They have come into contact with other people who are not in contact with customers, which is attractive to senior bank furniture."

CITIC Securities International Co., Ltd., director of human resources department, said the company has recruited international talent with an annual growth rate of 5% over the past few years. Recruitment has been promoted by layoffs by multinational companies.

"Our goal is to create a new type of investment bank that will allow Chinese companies to go out and bring in foreign capital through joint funding and mergers," said Brent, who left Boyer with Cantor.