Worried sick .... please advise

I am an analyst at a bulge bracket and planning to submit my resignation soon. I did something silly - over the past few weeks, I went to download from the bank's server the excel models and power point presentations that I have worked on into my memory stick. I never ever intend to share such information with anyone else or to profit from it. I only did it because they were my work product and I felt that they may be useful for future reference if I need to build these models in my next job. I am not moving to another bank for my next job.

Now, I am worried sick and losing sleep over it for the past few days.

Will my bank find out what I have done, and arrest me or initiate some SEC investigation against me? I am just a small fry..not sure whether they will do that, but I really don't want this silly act of mine to ruin my future.

For those who have resigned from banks, what are the exit procedures? Do they actually inspect your laptops and ask you to return the memory sticks and do some search to check whether you have downloaded confidential information?

23 Comments
 

Highly doubt it. There's simply too much information going around. I wouldn't worry about it although you are right to at least think a little bit about it.

 

are you resigning because you want don't want to get caught? honestly, people do this kind of stuff all the time. I remember my boss from a boutique even showed me the models he built back in the days for one of the deals.

but that's just my opinion.

 

If you made them......how is it bad, if you really wanted I'm sure you could just make them again yourself. Maybe if you had gone in and downloaded stuff relating to things you weren't even working on but this seems perfectly innocent. I doubt the SEC would waste their time on you.

-------------------------------------------------------- "I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcom
 

Keep the memory stick at work and stop losing sleep. You made an innocent mistake; you didn't commit any sort of crime or cause any damage to the firm. Just make sure the documents don't wind up on Google, Ebay, or in the hands of one of your competitors. DON'T take the models to your next job (CC: the algorithmic trader at Goldman Sachs)

Again, there is too much information floating around at the firm. If they ask you about it, just say that oops, you downloaded it onto a memory stick and left it at work.

 
Best Response

It doesn't take a heck of a lot of sophistication to be able to track the data flow in and out of the system, especially if the data is stored on a drive and not on your desktop.

It is part of your contract that you won't take any files from the firm when you leave. However, if no damage is ever done, you likely won't need to worry about it. I know some PE shops that use other PE shop's models pretty openly. If you're feeling guilty, return the information. But it definitely should not be keeping you up at night.

When I officially left my analyst stint, I had to sign documentation that stated I had not taken any confidential information out of the company. Personally, I don't know a single analyst who did not keep a copy of the offering memorandums they wrote and some other misc documents.

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CompBanker When I officially left my analyst stint, I had to sign documentation that stated I had not taken any confidential information out of the company. Personally, I don't know a single analyst who did not keep a copy of the offering memorandums they wrote and some other misc documents.

It's reassuring that I am not the only one who took confidential information with him when he leaves the bank. What I did was to download all the powerpoint presentations and the excel models that I created, which contained projections provided by clients. I am not intending to use those projections at all. I only want to use the model as a template which will save some time if I need to build a similar model in the future.

 

1) Your firm must be ghetto as sht ... not a single BB I know of lets you download onto flash drive (and i've worked at 3)

2) Don't trip its a model and if you keep it at work its fine since people do it all the time in my office ... sht my old MDs used to do it b/c some files were too big to be emailed so they just ferry it across on a stick

 
InassessableTangents1) Your firm must be ghetto as sht ... not a single BB I know of lets you download onto flash drive (and i've worked at 3)

2) Don't trip its a model and if you keep it at work its fine since people do it all the time in my office ... sht my old MDs used to do it b/c some files were too big to be emailed so they just ferry it across on a stick

I love the contradiction between these two statements.

 

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