THOUSANDS of jobs in Bournemouth have been secured after a banking giant committed its future to the town.

JP Morgan – which employs 5,000 people at its Chaseside complex – has announced that it will base its European headquarters at a new building in Canary Wharf, London.

It ends speculation that the global banking giant, which is Dorset’s biggest private sector employer, was considering its UK future.

JP Morgan is the bedrock of the area’s financial services industry, contributing an estimated £200 million to its economy.

Claudia Slacik, CEO at JP Morgan for Treasury and Securities Services in Europe, Middle East and Africa, said it was “a happy Christmas for all of us”.

She told the Daily Echo: “In terms of Bournemouth it means the headquarters of the businesses are staying in London and the operations that are performed in Bournemouth continue to be very important, and they will stay in Bournemouth.”

It was reported in the summer that JP Morgan was considering quitting the country – news that would have worried workers.

But they can now enjoy the festive season knowing their jobs are safe.

Ms Slacik added: “We expand and contract to varying degrees depending on the demands of our clients, so if trade takes off our clients are going to need more services and all of our operations are going to grow bigger.

“The chance of it growing is based on the global economy.

“What is done there is very important to our clients. We’ve been there now for 25 years and the bank really loves being in Bournemouth.”

Factfile

ESTABLISHED in 1986, the Chaseside building is a centre for JP Morgan’s technology and operations processing.

It supports the company’s Treasury and Securities Services, which has clients including investment managers, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, corporates, banks and other financial institutions.

Bournemouth is a key processing centre for global securities, the European operations centre for cash management, trade finance and liquidity solutions and the European operations centre for supporting clients’ securities and cash processing requirements.

The site is part of a network of global centres that includes Tampa, Dallas, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Manila.

JP Morgan calls the site “the European link in the global technology and operations chain”.