Dic/ culture: 투자은행/ Face time

1. Face Time: How Investment Banking interns are trying to impress their bosses

It means spending as much time as physically possible in the office

Two and a half years ago a young Moritz Erhardt collapsed dead in his shower. Moritz had allegedly worked until 6am for three consecutive days as an intern at Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch London offices. Moritz suffered an epileptic seizure and died. A coroner’s report ruled that the seizure which killed Moritz could happen naturally because of his epilepsy, although fatigue could have triggered it too.

2. Face time 

In the sphere of investment banking, it describes the period when staff have to hang around the office just because their boss is still there. This may also involve staying at the office until an acceptable late time (11 p.m. or later) so that others think a staff member is busy, and no one burdens him/her with more work. Face time in some institutions can extend to as far as 2 a.m. Notoriously, investment banking hours are quite harsh, and investment bankers are expected to spend a lot of time in the office every day. Eighty-hour work weeks are not uncommon.

3. “Face Time”: Financial Expression of the Day

Face Time, noun phrase, in investment banking, the act of putting in more hours at the office than necessary to accomplish a given day’s worth of work; typically manifested as arriving to work earlier than co-workers and superiors, and leaving work after all colleagues have undocked for the day.

Usage Note: Germane primarily to the analyst and associate, Face Time is an affectation for the purpose of leading superiors (and competing colleagues) to believe one is uber dedicated to maniacal levels of hard work and is possessed of an unquenchable lust for the honors and riches of a tenured investment banker. One of the most mysterious puzzles inside the royal domain of investment banking, Face Time has persisted as a practice among young bankers probably since the 1980’s.