The famous Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan is a New York landmark. Containing 19 commercial buildings and numerous areas of interest, Rockefeller Center is one of the most popular attractions in NYC. One of the most beautiful areas in New York City, Rockefeller Center is home to numerous NYC events and attractions, including the lighting of the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and the Top of the Rock. Additionally, it is the home to many of the world’s biggest investment banks.

JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase is now the country’s biggest commercial bank by assets, with nearly $2.3 trillion, a number that has increased rather than decreased since the financial crisis. It is also now the biggest investment bank in the entire world. The bank is one of the few that can claim that it didn’t need a bailout during the crisis.  Additionally, JPMorgan Chase is the biggest player in the derivatives market now and was involved in rescuing Bear Stearns when it went down in 2008. However, the firm has problems as well. Like many other banks it is being heavily sued for mortgages it sold to investors that later went bust before the Great Recession. It is almost certain that JPMorgan Chase will play some role in the next financial crisis.¹

HSBC

HSBC, a UK bank, also has one of its bank sites in Rockefeller Center. Unlike JPMorgan Chase, however, HSBC has not been doing well since the Great Recession. Recently, they announced that they will cut 2,000 jobs from mostly middle and senior management roles. They currently employ 50,000 people in Britain, and they are slashing 4% of its workforce. HSBC does not plan to stop here. “Stuart Gulliver, CEO of HSBC, has made it clear he aims to shed 30,000 jobs worldwide by 2013 – 10 per cent of its workforce – saving £2.4billion a year. Obviously profits of £14 billion aren’t quite enough.” As a result, HSBC is receiving much criticism.²

UBS

UBS is another bank that has been hit hard by the recession. The Swiss bank has predicted further problems after a restructuring of the business failed to prevent losses from the euro zone debt crisis. Shares in UBS fell 1.1 per cent after the bank said fourth-quarter net profit shrank to 393 million Swiss francs from 1.66 billion francs in the 2010 period. UBS said it was making progress on its plans to cut employees by almost 4,000. Total staff was down to 64,820 at the end of 2011. Also, UBS said it would have to cut more jobs if market conditions worsen.³

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