Nicknaming restructuring and lay-offs

Banks Mask Pain With Colorful Nicknames

Excerpt:

There’s nothing like a delicious-sounding nickname to cushion the blow of a painful restructuring. A seemingly endless procession of giant banks have embarked on internal reorganizations in recent years, mopping up messes that originated before the financial crisis. Instead of simply calling the processes what they are – slow and often messy overhauls that can result in shuttered businesses, large losses and laid-off workers – banks have cloaked the restructurings with cheerful monikers.

 .... in the U.K Lloyds Banking Group has adopted Project Verde as its codename for its oft-delayed plans to sell hundreds of its branches. The codename isn’t much of a secret, as Lloyds executives routinely refer to it in public and in official statements.

Not all banks are very creative with code names, especially when it comes to cost-cutting efforts.

Deutsche Bank used Project Integra as a moniker for its investment-banking cost-cutting.

In the U.S., Cleveland-based regional lender KeyCorp has “Keyvolution.” Wells Fargo has Project Compass.

Bank of America’s is Project New BAC (a reference to the bank’s ticker symbol).

The nicknaming trend has drawn ridicule from – who else? – J.P. Morgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon, who has told analysts that his bank is always focused on keeping costs low and doesn’t need silly nicknames to showcase the mission’s importance.

Comment: Insider .... when someone gets laid off we call it "getting compassed". Image source.