Gay banking
Square Mile and Me – The Bank of London CEO Anthony Watson: It’s still revolutionary to be visibly gay in banking
Each week we demand a City figure to take a trip down memory lane. Today, Anthony Watson CBE, CEO of The Bank of London and LGBT rights activist, tells us why the City still has a long way to travel to improve LGBT inclusivity
What was your first job?
Phone based technical support for AOL Europe.
What was your first role in tech or finance?
My first fulltime job was with First-e, Europe’s first internet bank, as a technical product engineer and then I went to work at Microsoft.
When did you realize you wanted to construct a career in tech and finance?
As a technologist by background, I’ve always been fascinated by how technology can enable and drive complex business propositions. Banking, with its critical impact on the economy, presents the ultimate test and opportunity for innovation. This complexity and potential for technological advancement drew me to build a career in this sector.
What’s one thing you adore about the City of London?
I love the force and innovatio
How to Find an LGBT-Friendly Bank: A Guide for Inclusive Banking
While the banking sector is shifting to better address customer needs, LGBTQ+ customers still often face systemic barriers in banking.
If you're searching for a financial institution that more closely aligns with your values, here's how to find the foremost banks that support Gay folks.
What makes a bank LGBTQ-friendly?
Inclusive policies and non-discrimination practices
Research from the National Endowment for Financial Training found that two in five LGBTQ+ adults felt blocked or discouraged from getting financial services and products because of barriers or discrimination in how these services were constructed. Furthermore, respondents who identified themselves as transgender were more than twice as likely to say they've experienced discrimination and bias in the financial system than LGBQ+ cisgender men and women.
Aspiring LGBTQ homebuyers experience discrimination in mortgage lending. According to a 2023 research report conducted by the Urban Institute, homeownership rates for Queer people are significantly reduce than for straight and cisgender people.
The process of changing the name on your debit
Chase Alumni Association
A Moment in Bank History
Gay at Chase
LGBTQ+ Bankers
Times have changed. Many of our alumni may have started working in banking when revealing you were gay was a career damper, if not breaker. As society's attitudes include changed have changed, so has the banking industry's.
JPMorgan Chase states online that it has long been a supporter of equality in all forms, including for the LGBTQ+ people. Starting with its very first PRIDE business resource group in 1996, JPMC recently strengthened its promise by creating the Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs and a full-time, dedicated team to deliver on its global LGBTQ+ agenda -- both for employees and customers. JPMC is a founding supporter of The Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center,
In June, we asked Chase Alumni for stories about what it was like to be gay "way back when" or even now at one of the JPMC heritage banks. We only got one story – about a colleague -- but lest we consider homosexuality doesn't remain a hot point for some, we got an irate email from one of our members – now a former&n The InterBank Lesbian, Gay, Pansexual and Transgender (LGBT+) Forum was formed in 2002. At the outset, it was a network of LGBT+ networks exclusively focused on investment banking. In 2012, InterBank decided to restructure itself beyond investment banking to cover the financial services as good as the professional services industry. Today, the InterBank LGBT+ Forum committee consists of the following member firms: The aim .ABN Amro Accenture Barclays Bank of America BBVA Bloomberg BNP Paribas BNY Mellon Citigroup CME Group Credit Suisse Deloitte Deutsche Bank DTCC EBRD Euroclear Evercore FactSet Fitch Group Goldman Sachs IG ING Jefferies JPMorgan Chase KPMG London Stock Exchange Group Lloyds Banking Group Macquarie Mastercard Moody’s Morgan Stanley Natixis Nomura Northern Trust PwC Rothschild Royal Bank of Canada Santander Bank Société Générale Standard Chartered State Street TD Securities TP ICAP UBS