City Diary

Commuters in the City will see posters on the Tube from next Monday declaring: "Murder, extortion and rampant sexual perversion - just an ordinary day in a merchant bank."

Commuters in the City will see posters on the Tube from next Monday declaring: "Murder, extortion and rampant sexual perversion - just an ordinary day in a merchant bank."

No, this is not another jape by those anti-capitalist protestors who recently laid siege to the Square Mile. The posters are part of an ad campaign for Mark Cohen 's City boddice-ripper The Butchers' Ball, which is coming out in paperback.

Mr Cohen's tale of lust and greed in a blue-blooded family-run bank that goes bust because of a rogue trader is a bit close to the bone. You see, Mr Cohen is a long time employee of ING Barings, which in its previous incarnation as Barings had a little local difficulty with a certain Nick Leeson .

Mr Cohen insists his masters at ING Barings don't mind about the book. What's Dutch for sang froid?

Carol Fisher, the head of the Government's Central Office of Information, has been sacked from previous jobs twice, and as a result does not hold a high opinion of headhunters.

After 13 years at Courage, the brewing company, she lost her job when it was taken over, but she got a good pay-off. She later lost her job at CLT, a media company which owns Talk Radio. But Ms Fisher attributes her subsequent success at getting attractive new jobs more to her own networking skills than any headhunter.

She tells the latest issue of Management Today: "I heard Marjorie Scardino give a talk recently and she said head-hunters are unbelievably blinkered... they don't think outside the box... I'd have to agree to that."

One way potential employers can pigeon hole you is by age, she adds. So her advice to job seekers is: "When you're writing a letter, never put your age. It's the biggest box of all."

So, the head of the Government's information department is advising you to withhold information. Interesting...

Christopher Chadwick is joining De La Rue as managing director of its new Services and Solutions division, following his recent departure from Guardian Direct where he was also managing director.

Guardian Direct's parent, Guardian Royal Exchange, was taken over last May by AXA, the giant French insurer, leaving Mr Chadwick seeking pastures new. In the past he has had stints at PPP, the private health insurer, as well as Mercury Communications, Leeds Building Society and Burton Group.

De La Rue prints over 150 national currencies and has recently diversified into various security-related services, which is where Mr Chadwick will work when he joins in November.

The two 'f's' are seen as the key to big money in European pay-TV, particularly by Canal Plus, where at least one executive unstintingly praises "football 'n' fornication".

Pierre Lescure , the chairman and chief executive officer of the Vivendi-owned broadcaster, tends to wrap this up in waffle about developing content. But Michel Thoulouze , the international managing director, is more direct, as befits an ex-TV journalist.

Discussing the group's Italian offshoot Telepiú with a local paper recently, Mr Thoulouze remarked on how handy it is that Italy is the second largest producer of pornographic films in the world (America is the biggest). He also let slip that pay-TV porn films sell outstandingly well in Catholic countries, citing Poland and France as well as Italy.

This throws a new light on non-Catholic papal knight Rupert Murdoch 's massive donation to the Catholic church a few months back. In Italy, Mr Murdoch has a stake in Stream, Telepiú's competing "football 'n' fornication" pay-TV operator. It spares subscribers' blushes by billing them simply for "other" films instead of listing giveaway titles.

But if Mr Murdoch had to clothe The Sun's page three for current wife Wen Di Deng and daughter Elisabeth , this bit of "other" in Italy may also be under threat.

Linah Mohohlo, 47, has become the first woman to head a central bank in Africa. Ms Mohohlo is taking over as governor of the Bank of Botswana from Baledzi Gaolathe , who will become finance minister.

Ms Moholo had been deputy governor and previously worked for the IMF. She has a BA in economics from George Washington University plus an MA in finance and investment.

Meanwhile, back in Britain, no sign of any Edina Georges on the horizon. Perhaps Carol Fisher should send in her CV.