In the aftermath of Lehman Brothers’ collapse 10 years ago, as politicians and central bankers scrambled to stem contagion in the financial system, senior bankers were working to ensure their firms avoided Lehman’s fate. The paths of US and European lenders would diverge sharply in the decade that followed, but back then, everyone in the City of London was in the same boat. And it was leaking.
Vis Raghavan, chief executive officer for JPMorgan’s European operations, found himself working more outside of market hours than in them. Raghavan, who was then the head of international capital markets, toiled as the bank advised its rivals on raising much-needed funds to shore up their balance sheets without spooking investors.