The bulge bracket banks have pared back in Chicago, even though investment banking business seems to have picked up. The Financial Times notes a "majority of the banks' Chicago/Midwest heads or heirs apparent have publicly or privately announced plans this year to depart;" it lists Goldman Sachs' Byron Trott, Merrill Lynch's Todd Kaplan, Citigroup's Michael Canmann, Deutsche Bank's Charles Denison and Morgan Stanley's Sandy Thompson.

Chicago has long been fairly strategic to most banks, and many of the biggest names in the industry hail from the area. Of course, the whole industry has been reeling; it may be unfair to say Chicago has been hit harder than any other big city. This may prove temporary, as business picks up. Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley led a $1.4 billion offering last week of 300 million Ford shares, "with much of the work done out of their offices in Chicago." 

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