(Photo: Reuters)
(Photo: Reuters)

Bankers are still raking through overseas job vacancy listings in a bid to avoid the ludicrous suggestions that we should all have capped or deferred bonuses.

But one area where we think we could really make some cash is actually through the mis-selling derivatives scandal.

Where people see a crisis, we see an opportunity.

Basically, banking jobs in the UK are waning and people aren't moving around as much because there are simply not enough jobs out there. On top of that, as I detailed last week, you could be taking on more work and performing to outstanding standards but it is unlikely that you'll get a decent bonus or a bump in salary.

The whole industry in Britain is festering in the court of public opinion and it's just making it difficult to move around. Frankly, the venom against all bankers is just annoying.

However, the mis-selling derivatives scandal is proving to be a nice little earner for many of us and at the moment I am shopping around for a good contract.

I am a derivatives trader for institutional clients and don't deal or waste my time with the little fishes, such as SMEs.

But the clusterf*** of a situation where banks have apparently mis-sold interest rate hedging products to "mom-and-pop" shops could mean I could get paid wads of cash for just using my expertise of understanding how derivatives work.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has of course forced banks to look into some 40,000 cases and since every product is uniquely priced and all that then you need people who actually understand how the products work, in order to determine a mis-sell or not.

So at the moment, I am in a sweet spot.

I have calculated that if I did this for nine months, I could earn the equivalent of five years' pay - at least.

Out of all the banks that have to process each mis-selling derivatives dispute, I found out that you can earn between £500-£800 per day. Some of my banker chums have already left investment banking to take up contract work in this area because it's pretty easy and you earn s*** loads of cash.

From what I've heard too, while banks have already employed thousands of contract workers, it is likely that they'll have to take on more because this so-called scandal isn't going to go away by the end of this year.

What makes it even more appealing, as a temporary line of work, is the fact that those who were employed months ago, haven't even started doing any of the work.

So, technically, you're getting paid to get "trained" and chill out.

Apart from looking through the cases, most of your job is meant to be sitting with the SMEs or individuals and explain why they have or have not been mis-sold a derivatives product. You then probably dry their eyes and tell them why they haven't received any compensation.

The only reason why I haven't moved into this area is that the available contracts have short notice periods. In the recent hiring drive, all contracts ranged from 3-9 months and have three month notice periods embedded in them.

While those people have had their contracts continually renewed, the available contracts now seem to have one-month notice periods.

I am actually waiting to hear back about a one-year contract with a three-month notice period at the moment.

It really is a no-brainer.

Mason Richman, not his real name, is a senior trader at one of the world's largest banking groups and has worked in the industry for 15 years