It all started on January 26, 2014 when a 58-year-old former senior executive at German investment bank behemoth Deutsche Bank, William Broeksmit, was found dead after hanging himself at his London home. He had been involved in the bank's risk function and advised the firm's senior leadership; according to a suicide note found after his death, he had been "anxious about various authorities investigating areas of the bank where he worked" (we profiled the suicide extensively in "an Inside Look At Two "Unrelated" Banker Suicides Reveals A Fascinating Rabbit Hole").

Broeksmit's death appeared to set off an unprecedented series of banker suicides throughout the year which included former Fed officials and numerous JPMorgan traders.