There has been a lot of talk about London rivaling New York City as the world's financial center. U.S. investment banks were certainly hip to the trend. They staffed up pretty impressively in London to cash in on banking and trading of all kinds, except retail really. Merrill Lynch, for example, boosted its European head count to 7,000 from 6,000 in 2002, mostly in London. Lehman Brothers was also said to be an aggressive hirer. This has been good news for just about all except competing banks. Dresdner Kleinwort and HSBC have both been forced to pare back just a little, as they faced a tough time competing with U.S. banks for top jobs. Now, however, the boom may be fading a bit across the board. The frenetic pace will probably have to slow down, if only to provide time for a breather.

For more:
- here's an Evening Standard article