"The boss of JP Morgan Chase signed off on a new 3bn tower in London after a trip to New York by a top adviser to the UK prime minister to give assurances about the government's pro-business policies, it has emerged. The Wall Street bank, which along with Goldman Sachs announced substantial investment plans in the UK hours after they were spared tax increases in Rachel Reeves's autumn budget, only signed off on the plan for its new UK headquarters last Friday."
"On Thursday morning, JP Morgan revealed plans to build a 3m sq ft tower in Canary Wharf, which will serve as its new UK headquarters and house more than half of its 23,000 UK staff, stressing that the project would depend on a continuing positive business environment in the UK. A UK official quoted by the FT said: The investment would probably not have been [announced] if this budget had been seen as anti-prosperity and anti-financial services. Dimon would not have been very positive."
Varun Chandra, Keir Starmer's business envoy, traveled to New York to meet Jamie Dimon before JP Morgan Chase approved a 3bn London tower for its UK headquarters. The approval came days before the chancellor announced 26bn in tax rises and after the banking sector lobbied to avoid higher levies. Treasury officials had not decided on bank tax increases when the envoy visited. JP Morgan plans a 3m sq ft Canary Wharf building to house over half of its 23,000 UK staff, conditional on a continuing positive business environment. Officials and sources said the decision reflected multiple factors including the government's growth priority.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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