JP Morgan poaches Monzo’s banking officer to head up Chase UK
JP Morgan has poached a top executive from Monzo to head up Chase UK.
The Wall Street giant has hired Kunal Malani, who has served as chief banking officer at Monzo since 2020, to lead its UK-based digital banking service.
Malani has had stints at Barclays and HSBC in his retail banking career before heading into the fintech system.
Earlier this year, JP Morgan laid out plans to crack the UK insurance market through Chase Protect, which plans to envelope its essential coverage bundle into one single month fee, designed as an add-on for current account holders.
While JP Morgan has operated in the UK for over 200 years as a titan of investment banking, its retail presence is relatively young.
The Chase division has enjoyed rapid UK growth amasing over 2m customers since launching in 2021.
JP Morgan’s Canary Wharf ambition faces tax question
Chase’s expansion comes amid a tumultuous time for the banks future plans in the UK, with questions surrounding JP Morgan’s ambition to build Canary Wharf’s largest tower.
The bank is understood to have sought to nail the “maximum height possible to maximise investment” though it faced a roadblock due to air restrictions from the nearby airport.
London City Airport sits around three miles away from Canary Wharf, placing the financial hub within its “safeguarding zone”.
JP Morgan unveiled plans for the 3m square feet tower in the aftermath of the Budget, where banks dodged a highly-speculated tax raid. Rachel Reeves touted the investment as a “multi-billion pound vote of confidence in the UK economy”.
But the bank has continued to warn the skyscraper would only go ahead should the government hand it a favourable tax environment. The Treasury is reported to be lining up a business rates discount of “up to 100 per cent” to attract the financial juggernaut, according to The Times.
A report from Tower Hamlets local council revealed JP Morgan had lobbied for a “business rates incentive over a period of years”.
The government has also warned the local authority that the bank was “unlikely to progress” on the new tower “without clarity and certainty” on its tax bill.