Pros
Since all groups across the firm are different, I'll stick to personal experience. IT infrastructure is one of the best among several financial companies I had a chance working with. Middle management is flexible and encourages innovations and new ideas. Professional training courses available and staff encouraged to regularly enroll. 4 weeks vacation and work/life balance are good benefits hardly matched outside of financial sector.
Cons
Again, personal experience only, do not extrapolate. No promotions or salary raises in years. Bonus has been cut lately due to overall economy situation. Problems to solve are not challenging enough which is quite boring. As usual within financial sector there are many limitations to personal 401K fund allocations. Overall job at financial institution is not sexy enough in comparison with hot startups.