I looked into this when I was at uni and was basically told it's not possible (assuming you are British). The best chance you have is doing 1-2 years in London and then transferring internally to the US. I know multiple people who have gone this route so it's not uncommon, although you will need to be a good performer.

Alternatively if you're not set on the US and just want to go abroad, you could look at Singapore / Hong Kong. 

 

This, our team has had several UK bankers from our sector team there transfer over as A2As. They have always been very good. They get ridden hard as its harder for them to leave since they would need another firm to sponsor them if they want to stay in US. That said, they seem to enjoy the working on US team vs the EMEA team. Better culture in US for our team at least.

 

I know an American who had 0 UK connections who made London BB. They networked like crazy and met an alum from our school like that. 
 

if you go to a top target in the UK, you probably have some senior alumni in New York, but even then it’s hard. I would stick to trying to get something in London. You can always ask to transfer after a few years. My New York bank has plenty of transfers from our Europe offices. 

 

Why would an American with 0 UK connections want to try so hard to work at a London BB??

All of the top BBs are american-based, and it's hard for me to see the advantage of picking london over america for finance

 

Who knows. Some people just like London as a city. 

 
Most Helpful

If you have US work authorizations, you will need to proactively manage your recruiting process but it’s entirely doable - can be as easy as being a summer analyst in London and transferring to NY for full time

if you don’t have work authorization, it’s very difficult and you need to spend a couple years in the seat and be well regarded for a lateral transfer which is doable 

vice versa also generally applies, although it’s easier for US citizens to get work authorization in the UK post Brexit than the other way around 

 

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