The death of an intern working at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London has parked concerns over the common culture of working long hours at top banks.

Moritz Erhardt, a 21 year old intern from Germany, was working with the US bank as part of his summer internship programme. The student was found dead in his student residence on August 15th after he reportedly worked until
6am three days in a row at Bank of America's investment banking division in the British Capital.

Experts have said that weekends at work and meals in the office are part of the working culture pushing young people to work really long hours at the global banks and other companies. The young people are prepared to put in those extra hours to secure jobs at the leading banks, especially at a time when the jobs market remains weak with a fragile recovery.

A charity campaigning for the better treatment of interns, Intern Aware has said that students are made to work upto 100 hours a week and called for an overhaul to the system. Ben Lyons, the charity's co-founder, said there needed to be a "change in culture where employees are assessed not on the total number of hours they are able to grind out, but on the quality of work they are able to produce".

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) also said that there is a need for a change in the working culture of the financial industry. CIPD produces guidelines for HR professionals in various industries.