The number of students sitting examinations allowing them to work in the City could now be running at a third of its earlier levels.
By Ben Lobel
Registrations to sit the exams administered by the Securities & Investment Institute (SII) this year are running at just short of 42,000, a fall of 17 percent from their levels the previous year.
The SSI sets and administers the exams that most City professionals must pass before they gain their FSA accreditation.
Normally, a broker or investment bank would take on a graduate or other recruit and, as part of their internal training programme, expect them to spend several weeks on the exams.
Registrations are expected to fall further.
This month, Merrill Lynch and its new owner Bank of America said they would be cutting about 1,900 people in London, one of the biggest single reductions in the City's history.