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The chairman and chief executive of one of the world’s biggest banks says he is “committed to the UK”, despite recent political and economic turmoil.

Brian Moynihan, of Bank of America, also told Sky News that he is not concerned about the prospect of an increase in corporation tax, adding: “We don’t live or die by our tax rate.”

Mr Moynihan said of the UK’s recent political turbulence: “We don’t get too wound-up about [elections].

“It’s always something in the moment, but it’s a population’s job to elect officials and our job to manage our company given those elections.

“I think the UK is one of the leading economies and leading countries in the world and is a bastion of stability in general sense.

“And we’ve got to go through a midterm election in the US, we’ve got to get to the other side of that, and then stability can settle in.

“So we always say our company’s been around for 230-plus years, we’ve been through a lot of elections, and our job is just to manage through them.”

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Bank of America is the second-largest bank in America with a market capitalisation of nearly $300bn (making it roughly 10 times bigger than Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest, and more than three times bigger than HSBC).

It has about 5,000 employees in the UK, mainly in London but also Chester and Bromley.

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Sky’s Ed Conway: The economic challenges facing Sunak

Mr Moynihan – one of the longest-serving Wall Street chief executives – has been leading Bank of America since 2010 over which time the share price has returned 175%.

He addressed the very difficult economic challenge that the new UK prime minister faces, but was not too upset at the prospect of the UK corporation tax rate rising instead of falling, as had been planned by Rishi Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss.

“I think governments have to get a balance between taxation of corporations, individuals and what they spend the money on – and that’s a long-term problem for all governments,” he said.

“People shouldn’t be bidding for people’s business on tax rates, because ultimately, that leads to things which get a little out of skew.

“So I think the key is to have a consistent rate where people can invest across long periods of time, that’s fair to the companies and fair to the people they employ and fair to the business they generate, and tax revenues they generate, and then also fair to the citizens, so the governments can do what they need to do.

“I think those things settle over time, they go up and they go down.

“And you know, we don’t live or die by our tax rate, we live or die by having great customers doing great things with them – generate a lot of revenue, keep expenses in check, generate a lot of pre-tax income, and then we’ll figure out what the taxing authorities do.”

Corporation tax in the United States is 21% (with some surcharges depending state), which was lowered by president Donald Trump from 35% in 2018.

President Joe Biden has suggested it should rise again to 28%.

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The UK corporation tax rate is currently 19% and due to rise to 25% by April 2023 – a rise that Ms Truss planned to cancel, but now looks set to remain in place.

Mr Moynihan was sober about the global economic outlook, saying: “Our economists, and most economists around the world predict recessions in various economies over the next 12 to 18 months.”

That said, he felt the US economy was looking resilient.

“The US economy at the end of the day, it’s a consumer-driven economy.

“We see our consumers even for the first three weeks of October, they’re now spending still 9%-plus over what they spent last year, which is one-and-a-half times to two times the rate they’re spending pre pandemic.

“And so that’s a good thing.

“Now, ahead of them, you know, we’ve got the Fed raising rates and slowing down the economy.

“At the end of day, [US consumers] have good credit statistics and have the ability to borrow, so that’s good news.”

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Mr Moynihan was brought in to lead Bank of America after the financial crisis, and is always on the lookout for the next potential issue for his company and his industry, particularly following the UK’s recent issue with certain pension funds having too much exposure to Liability Driven Investments (LDI’s).

“We always look for, if you think about the Princess and the Pea analogy, under all those mattresses, you’re always looking for that pea to figure out where the risk is and where the risk gets bottled up.

“And you saw some that come out when you had a particularly strong movement in gilts, in the bonds in the UK.

“But the market now loves stability…and you’re seeing it settle back down given the circumstances over the last few weeks. But yeah, that was interesting. We looked around and said: Where else could this infect the economy?

“But the good news is the banking systems across the world are in pretty good shape.”

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City financier Kolade joins ranks of Channel 4 chair contenders

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City financier Kolade joins ranks of Channel 4 chair contenders

A leading financier and Conservative Party donor is among the contenders vying to chair Channel 4, the state-owned broadcaster.

Sky News has learnt from Whitehall sources that Wol Kolade has been shortlisted to replace Sir Ian Cheshire at the helm of the company.

Mr Kolade, who has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to Tory coffers, is said by Whitehall insiders to be one of a handful of remaining candidates for the role.

A recommendation from Ofcom, the media regulator, to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy about its recommendation for the Channel 4 chairmanship is understood to be imminent.

Mr Kolade, who heads the private equity firm Livingbridge, has held non-executive roles including a seat on the board of NHS Improvement.

He declined to comment when contacted by Sky News on Monday.

His candidacy pits him against rivals including Justin King, the former J Sainsbury chief executive, who last week stepped down as chairman of Ovo Energy.

Debbie Wosskow, an existing Channel 4 non-executive director who has applied for the chair role, is also said by government sources to have made it to the shortlist.

Sir Ian stepped down earlier this year after just one term, having presided over a successful attempt to thwart privatisation by the last Tory government.

The Channel 4 chairmanship is currently held on an interim basis by Dawn Airey, the media industry executive who has occupied top jobs at companies including ITV, Channel 5, and Yahoo!.

The race to lead the state-owned broadcaster’s board has acquired additional importance since the resignation of Alex Mahon, its long-serving chief executive.

It has since been reported that Alex Burford, another Channel 4 non-executive director and the boss of Warner Records UK, was interested in replacing Ms Mahon.

Ms Mahon, who was a vocal opponent of Channel 4’s privatisation, is leaving to join Superstruct, a private equity-owned live entertainment company.

The appointment of a new chair is expected to take place by the autumn, with the chosen candidate expected to lead the recruitment of Ms Mahon’s successor.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport declined to comment on the recruitment process.

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Premier League club Brentford to sell stake at £400m valuation

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Premier League club Brentford to sell stake at £400m valuation

The owner of Brentford Football Club has clinched a deal to sell a minority stake in the Premier League side to new investors at a valuation of roughly £400m.

Sky News has learnt that an agreement that will involve current owner Matthew Benham offloading a chunk of his holding to Gary Lubner – the wealthy businessman who ran Autoglass-owner Belron – is expected to be announced as early as Tuesday.

Matthew Vaughn, the Hollywood film-maker whose credits include Layer Cake and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, is also expected to invest in Brentford as part of the deal, The Athletic reported last month.

Further details of the transaction were unclear on Monday night, although one insider speculated that it could ultimately see as much as 25% of the club changing hands.

If confirmed, it would underline the continuing interest from wealthy investors in top-flight English clubs.

FA Cup winners Crystal Palace have seen a minority stake being bought by Woody Johnson, the New York Jets-owner, in the last few weeks, with that deal hastened by the implications of former shareholder John Textor’s simultaneous ownership of a stake in French club Lyon.

Sky News revealed in February 2024 that Mr Benham had hired bankers at Rothschild to market a stake in Brentford.

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Under Mr Benham’s stewardship, it has enjoyed one of the most successful transformations in English football, rising from the lower divisions to the top division in 2021.

It has also moved from its long-standing Griffin Park home to a new stadium near Kew Bridge.

This summer is proving to be one of transition, with manager Thomas Frank joining Tottenham Hotspur and striker Bryan Mbeumo the subject of persistent interest from Manchester United.

Brentford did not respond to a request for comment on Monday night, while a spokesman for Mr Lubner declined to comment.

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Economists say the cost of living crisis is over – here’s why many households disagree

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Economists say the cost of living crisis is over - here's why many households disagree

Talk to economists and they will tell you that the cost of living crisis is over.

They will point towards charts showing that while inflation is still above the Bank of England’s 2% target, it has come down considerably in recent years, and is now “only” hovering between 3% and 4%.

So why does the cost of living still feel like such a pressing issue for so many households? The short answer is because, depending on how you define it, it never ended.

Economists like to focus on the change in prices over the past year, and certainly on that measure inflation is down sharply, from double-digit levels in recent years.

But if you look over the past four years then the rate of change is at its highest since the early 1990s.

But even that understates the complexity of economic circumstances facing households around the country.

For if you want a sense of how current financial conditions really feel in people’s pockets, you really ought to offset inflation against wages, and then also take account of the impact of taxes.

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That is a complex exercise – in part because no two households’ experience is alike.

But recent research from the Resolution Foundation illustrates some of the dynamics going on beneath the surface, and underlines that for many households the cost of living crisis is still very real indeed.

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UK inflation slows to 3.4%

The place to begin here is to recall that perhaps the best measure of economic “feelgood factor” is to subtract inflation and taxes from people’s nominal pay.

You end up with a statistic showing your real household disposable income.

Consider the projected pattern over the coming years. For a household earning £50,000, earnings are expected to increase by 10% between 2024/25 and 2027/28.

Subtract inflation projected over that period and all of a sudden that 10% drops to 2.5%.

Now subtract the real increase in payments of National Insurance and taxes and it’s down to 0.2%.

Now subtract projected council tax increases and all of a sudden what began as a 10% increase is actually a 0.1% decrease.

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Will we see tax rises in next budget?

Of course, the degree of change in your circumstances can differ depending on all sorts of factors. Some earners (especially those close to tax thresholds, which in this case includes those on £50,000) feel the impact of tax changes more than others.

Pensioners and those who own their homes outright benefit from a comparatively lower increase in housing costs in the coming years than those paying mortgages and (especially) rent.

Nor is everyone’s experience of inflation the same. In general, lower-income households pay considerably more of their earnings on essentials, like housing costs, food and energy. Some of those costs are going up rapidly – indeed, the UK faces higher power costs than any other developed economy.

But the ultimate verdict provides some clear patterns. Pensioners can expect further increases in their take-home pay in the coming years. Those who own their homes outright and with mortgages can likely expect earnings to outpace extra costs. But others are less fortunate. Those who rent their homes privately are projected to see sharp falls in their household income – and children are likely to see further falls in their economic welfare too.

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