An aggressive push into Europe by Scandinavian investment banks is driving their demand for financial IT professionals from the skilled UK market.

While the UK and US investment banks reveal the extent of their sub-prime exposure, the Scandinavian banks – particularly the Icelandic ones – are pursuing M&A opportunities across Europe, and taking on IT workers at a rapid rate.

Kaupthing, an Icelandic financial group, bought Dutch bank NIBC for €3bn in August and acquired the asset management business of Robeco in October. Straumur, the Icelandic investment bank, is looking to Central and Eastern Europe for new ventures.

Straumur has also this week poached its new head of its information technology group from Bank of America, which has been attibuted to the firm's expansion ambitions.

Landsbanki, Glitnir, Nordea, Danske Bank and wealth manager Carnegie are also said to be looking for IT staff.

Simon Walker, director of financial IT recruiter Project Partners, says data warehousing and business intelligence consultants are needed to assess the technology platforms and infrastructure of potential acquisitions.

“Most of the hires are coming from UK-based financial companies, mainly from the top-tier investment managers and investment banks,” he says.

“We’re now approaching a position in the UK where we don’t have enough roles for the candidates we have, whereas in Scandinavia, it’s very much the opposite,” says Walker.

Candidates must have at least five years' experience to be considered, and it seems the contractor route is the most lucrative, with daily rates coming in at £500 to £900 or up to £1k for senior roles. Meanwhile, annual salaries are between £70k and £90k, which is around a 10% drop on UK rates.

The bad news is that the contracts are generally only for six months, which makes it difficult for candidates looking to relocate long term.