US investment bank JPMorganChase is set to double down on its commitment to London's Canary Wharf estate, taking another two floors from Swiss bank UBS, CoStar News understands.
In July, JPMorgan completed a lease for around 150,000 square feet of overflow space, or roughly a third of Credit Suisse’s former UK headquarters at One Cabot Square. The letting came as the bank stepped up its drive to bring its staff back to the office five days a week.
In November, JPMorgan announced plans to build a 3 million-square-foot headquarters tower at the Riverside site.
The group is now in talks to take another 85,000 square feet at One Cabot Square across floors three and four.
Swiss bank UBS took on the lease on One Cabot Square, which is owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, when it stepped in to complete an emergency takeover of peer Credit Suisse in a state-sponsored takeover in 2023, as reported. It then began moving Credit Suisse staff into its offices at 5 Broadgate by Liverpool Street Station in the City of London.
The Credit Suisse lease on the 540,000-square-foot, 21-storey One Cabot Square, runs until 2034.
The negotiations by the US's largest bank on the space are understood to have begun before its decision to require all staff to return to the office five days a week from March, as reported. But it is also understood to be over-capacity at its 1 million-square-foot tower at 25 Bank Street in Canary Wharf, which it bought for £495 million in 2010.
In the US, it has been stepping up its commitment to investing in offices to accommodate its growing workforce, as reported.
Knight Frank is advising UBS, while JLL is advising JPMorgan.
The latter joins a growing list of companies committing to the Wharf, including Barclays, BBVA, Citi, Fitch, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Revolut and Smartest Energy, alongside new arrivals such as Visa, Zopa and Hershey’s.
In 2025, Canary Wharf Group said it had secured more than 50 new retailers, opened an aparthotel – Vertus Edit – and launched its latest build-to-rent scheme at 50 Charter Street.
A November analysis by CoStar found that leasing activity had surged in 2025 in the Docklands Core market, which includes Canary Wharf, as occupiers look east to satisfy their occupational requirements. By then, over 500,000 square feet of new leases had been signed, making it the strongest year since 2019, with two months to spare.
There is expectation that Deutsche Bank will take a significant office space at the YY building at the Docklands this month.
Following a recent 300,000-square-foot Visa letting at One Canada Square, it is understood Canary Wharf Group has 400,000 square feet to lease taking its vacancy rate below 6%. Visa will take all of the space ratings agency Moody's is vacating so it will have 160,000 square feet potentially available in One Canada Square.
Knight Frank declined to comment. JLL and JPMorgan did not respond to requests for comment.