The US banking group, in the face of the pandemic, has halted recruitment in a number of its business areas, a report said.

JP Morgan was tight-lipped yesterday about media reports that it has put in place a hiring freeze in a number of areas including its wealth management arm, during the pandemic.

A report in Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, said that corporate and investment banking, consumer and asset- and wealth-management groups have been asked by the bank to review job postings and pull listings for roles that aren’t immediately needed.

The US-listed banking group declined to comment when contacted by this news service yesterday. 

The newswire report said that some JP Morgan operations such as home lending, where business has increased because of low interest rates, are excluded from the freeze.

Banks are having to realign some of their policies in order to cope with the crisis, sending home non-core staff and adjusting further remote working. 

While ultra-low interest rates may have boosted some banking business lines, they also bite into margins. In Switzerland, for example, the industry has criticised negative interest rates for causing financial pain to banks and for fuelling a real estate bubble.