Inside a wild year of FA recruiting - BlackRock names new leaders for advisory arm - Former Goldman Sachs CIO joins fintech

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It's fitting that what would have been the biggest deal of 2020 almost occured in the waning moments.

Almost.

The Wall Street Journal reported that FIS and Global Payments held unsuccessful talks to merge in a deal that would have been valued at $70 billion.

While the deal didn't end up going through, it's further proof of the rush of dealmaking that has occurred in recent months, coupled with further consolidation in the payments space.

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Inside a 'wild' year for financial-advisor recruiting: 5 top wealth headhunters shed light on how they're doing record numbers of placements - and how much they're getting paid for them

Hiring of financial advisors has been occuring at a frantic pace, with one recruiter estimating his placements have increased by 50%.

Rebecca Ungarino, who has been all over the FA frenzy, has got a great deep dive on a recap of the recruitment of financial advisors.

Hear from five recruiters about how their crazy year unfolded.

Click here to read the entire story.

BlackRock has shaken up leadership in its influential advisory business that works on projects like the Federal Reserve's massive bond-buying program

Nice scoop from Rebecca Ungarino on new leaders for BlackRock's Financial Markets Advisory, which serves as the firm's quasi-consulting arm and was involved in the Fed's massive bond-buying program. Get the full rundown on the people leading the business. Read more here.

A former Goldman Sachs exec just joined a startup that's hoping to bring more transparency to the different apps banks can use

A longtime former Goldman executive has joined the ranks of a fintech looking to help Wall Street better manage its tech. Carter Johnson spoke with Elisha Wiesel, a 25-year Goldman veteran who served as chief information officer at the bank, about joining The Floor. Read more here.

Odd lots:

Meet the litigator duo at the elite law firm Kirkland & Ellis that has racked up nearly $2 billion in verdicts and settlements in the last 18 months taking on high-stakes trade secret cases for firms like Motorola (BI)

Lawyers are lonely and collaborating less while working at home. Here's what they want to see when they get back to the office. (BI)

Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking is acquiring fraud detection firm White Ops as scammers spread to more corners of the web (BI)

UBS Taps Credit Suisse Banker Sharma to Boost Deals for Rich (Bloomberg)

Wells Fargo to Sell Student Loan Book to Apollo, Blackstone (Bloomberg)

The CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage reveals why he deliberately over-hires, spends months training new staffers, and just made every employee a shareholder (BI)

JPMorgan's European equity syndicate head Lorenzo Soler set to lead US unit (FinancialNews)

The Journalist and the Pharma Bro (Elle)