JPMorgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon gave the go-ahead for a new 3mn square-foot tower in London after a top adviser to Sir Keir Starmer flew to New York to offer assurances about the government’s business-friendly policies.
The plans for the Canary Wharf building were only finalised last Friday after the prime minister’s business envoy Varun Chandra visited Dimon in New York, according to people familiar with the meeting. The visit came just days before chancellor Rachel Reeves announced ￡26bn of tax rises while resisting calls from her party to impose higher levies on banks.
“The investment?.?.?. would probably not have been [announced] if this Budget had been seen as anti-prosperity and anti-financial services,” said one UK official familiar with the talks. “Dimon would not have been very positive.”