Will the death of a young intern change Wall Street?

Bank of America said Friday it would take a closer look at its intern culture after a 21-year-old intern died recently in London.

London police found the body of Moritz Erhardt at his student housing in East London on August 15. He was nearing the end of an internship at Bank of America's Merrill Lynch investment banking unit, where interns reportedly pay their dues by working 15-hour-plus days as well as weekends. Following Erhardt's death, rumors quickly surfaced that he had pulled eight all-nighters in the previous two weeks — three of which were in the 72 hours before his death.

The official cause of Erhardt's death is still unknown, but the tragedy shed an unflattering light on the banking world's internship programs. U.K. Labour MP Andy Love said it's time for real cultural reform in the industry, and that it's up to banks to make changes. "Banks should come up with plans to tackle the overwhelmingly male culture within banking. Changes to this 'macho' culture, which includes working ridiculously long hours, need to be made," he said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Bank of America had this to say:

But implementing rules to protect interns would be a big change for the banking world. The working hours described in reports are deeply entrenched in banking culture, going back decades. Here's what a former Merrill Lynch technology investment analyst told The Independent for a story titled "Slavery in the City."

There's even a term for a shift that goes from 9 a.m. to 5 a.m.: A "banker 9-to-5," said Kevin Roose in New York.

Banking interns, like their elders, are a competitive bunch, and pulling all-nighters is a way to set themselves apart from the pack. And unlike other competitive internships (like the White House program), banking interns are paid well. They get around $6,000 a month, not to mention a chance at landing a job after graduation that starts paying $80,000 annually. Other reported perks include personal town cars and expenses-paid trips to nightclubs.

Roose, who describes a common game in banking culture called "Misery Poker," where young bankers brag about their insane work loads, says the interns share responsibility for perpetuating that brutal culture: