London’s backlash against Wall Street is gaining momentum as big firms join in

Visa is moving its European headquarters to London’s financial district, immediately following the announcement JPMorgan that it will build a landmark tower in an area considered the city’s answer to Wall Street.

Visa, whose European headquarters are currently in Paddington, west London, has signed a 15-year lease for 300,000 sq ft at One Canada Square in Canary Wharf, according to Canary Wharf Group. The company will move in the summer of 2028.

It follows reports that JPMorgan is looking to build a new 3 million square foot tower in the city’s historic financial district. HSBC, BBVA, Barclays, Citibank and others have recommitted to the area in 2025. British fintech Revolut also opened an office in the area in September.

Canary Wharf has been hit particularly hard as the coronavirus pandemic has fueled a shift to hybrid and remote working. The Docklands Core submarket, which includes Canary Wharf, achieved a record vacancy rate of 18.5% in the first quarter of 2025, according to data from CoStar.

There are three main reasons for the district’s revival, Shobi Khan, CEO, Canary Wharf Group, told CNBC in September, when Canary Wharf’s vacancy rate was 6%.

The first is the convenience of the Elizabeth railway line providing access to an area that has “never been better”, as well as the fact that the area is now mixed-use and includes residential buildings and hotels as well as offices.

“Finally, real estate is about supply and demand. The construction pipeline basically shuts down after 2026, so rents are going up, we’re pushing rents and taking advantage of limited space for residents to look at,” Khan said.

“Canary Wharf is booming,” he added.

More than 750,000 sq ft of office lettings have been announced in the docks area this year, making it the best year for office lettings in more than a decade, according to Canary Wharf Group.

This is being helped by measures announced in the UK Autumn Budget which have stabilized the long-term interest rate environment – a key metric for the property industry – according to Shabab Qadar, partner and head of London-based research at Knight Frank.

JPMorgan’s commitment is “a huge sign that London is open for business,” Qadar told “Squawk Box Europe” on Friday.. “London needs a rethink. There are a lot of attractive prices for offices in London now.”

Companies are increasingly asking and incentivizing employees to return to their offices, offering the real estate industry some form of relief from the high risk of obsolescence, thanks in part to work shifts during the pandemic.

“Residents want their accommodation to contribute much more to employee health. There’s a war for talent and getting people back into the office, which we’ve seen quite a significant increase over the past 12 months, requires employers to provide the best quality office space for their employees,” Qadar said.

“People have made the wrong decisions in terms of downsizing in the last few years and now we’re going to have a period of transformation,” he added.

A new three-year stamp duty exemption for UK-listed companies will also “provide a kick-start to financial services, particularly in the city”, Qadar said, however pension reform is also “critical to making London more attractive to global investors”.

“Digital payments are driving the economy across Europe. This exciting next step will allow us to pioneer the future of payments, giving Europeans access to a world-class payment experience while offering them the highest levels of security, resilience and reliability,” said Antony Cahill, Regional President and CEO of Visa Europe.