US financial firms pledge $1.7 billion to UK ahead of Trump’s visit

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

(Reuters) – The British government on Saturday announced over 1.25 billion pounds ($1.69 billion) in fresh investment from major U.S. financial firms, including PayPal, Bank of America, Citigroup and S&P Global, ahead of a state visit by President Donald Trump.

The investment is expected to create 1,800 jobs across London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Manchester, and deepen transatlantic financial ties, the Department for Business and Trade said.

Bank of America will launch its first operation in Northern Ireland, creating up to 1,000 jobs in Belfast. Citigroup plans to invest 1.1 billion pounds across its UK operations, including a further commitment to growing its presence in Northern Ireland.

S&P Global will invest over 4 million pounds in Manchester, supporting 200 permanent roles, while BlackRock is expected to allocate 7 billion pounds to the UK market next year and has opened a new office in Edinburgh, nearly doubling its local workforce.

“These investments reflect the strength of our enduring ‘golden corridor’ with one of our closest trading partners,” said Britain’s trade minister, Peter Kyle.

Finance minister Rachel Reeves said the investments would “kickstart the growth that is essential to putting money in working people’s pockets across every part of the United Kingdom.”

The government said the deals line up 20 billion pounds in trade between Britain and the U.S.

Also on Saturday, the British Embassy in Washington said the countries were planning to sign a technology agreement in the coming days to bolster collaboration between their trillion-dollar tech sectors.

Trump is to fly to Britain on Tuesday for his second state visit, which is expected to last three days.

($1 = 0.7377 pounds)

(Reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham, Angela Christy M and Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel Wallis, David Gregorio and William Mallard)