To the outside world, it may look as if the banking industry is interested only in cutting jobs but behind the scenes Europe’s biggest banks are using the financial crisis to recruit senior bankers, picking up talent at prices that would not have been possible during boom times.

The Financial Times analysed the movement of European managing directors working across debt and equity capital markets, as well as M&A advisory, since September 15 – the day Lehman Brothers announced the biggest bankruptcy in corporate movement.