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Exile on Wall Street

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Exile on Wall Street

One Analyst’s Fight to Save the Big Banks from Themselves

Wiley,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Wall Street analyst Mike Mayo uses inside know-how for an outsider’s critical take on big banks and the Street.

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Overview

Recommendation

Investment analyst Mike Mayo calls himself an exile on – not from – Wall Street. Drawing on the objectivity he first developed as a bank analyst working at the Federal Reserve, Mayo brings impartiality and an insider’s view to his often scathing analysis of the financial industry. The subject matter is compelling, in part due to the skill with which Mayo treats the arcana of sell-side bank research – a generally dry and usually inaccessible topic. His wry sarcasm serves as comic relief, and he often steps out of his narrative to engage the reader directly. He achieves an affable tone – neither overly erudite nor overly simplistic – and uses everyday analogies to render complex financial issues comprehensible. Even though Mayo’s 2012 narrative is a bit outdated, getAbstract recommends this well-informed read to laypeople and to Wall Street practitioners.

Summary

Rage Against the Machine

Banking analyst Mike Mayo found that on Wall Street – as in many other places – self-interest often prevails over ethics. He saw firsthand how Wall Street’s overriding desire to make money could lead even the most stalwart individuals to cut corners to make a deal.

At the start of his career in the late 1980s, Mayo learned the craft of bank examination at the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC. Guided by the industrious values of his immigrant family, Mayo came to understand that “civic virtue” should drive his work and that a detachment from the banks he was monitoring was important in fulfilling his supervisory obligations. He earned a master of business administration by going to school at night and became a chartered financial analyst while working at the Fed.

Mayo also came to admire former Fed chairman Paul Volcker for his belief that “a big, bold line” must separate the regulator from the regulated. Volcker disagreed with bankers’ arguments that the government should allow them to operate freely for the good of the economy. He believed regulators are responsible for keeping the financial system safe and steady, not for helping ...

About the Author

Mike Mayo is a managing director at investment bank Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia.

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