London Banking & Finance Hiring Held Flat as the Practice Rose 14.1%

Sartori & Partners data show the london banking and finance lateral market standing still while the practice around it grew. Finance lateral moves into London were flat on the settled 12-month windows, 322 and then 325. Over the same windows, finance moves across the market rose 14.1% and finance moves into New York rose 28.5%. London across all practices held flat (-2.5%). The city is not shrinking as a finance market. It has stopped adding to it, while the practice's growth went elsewhere.

The practice as a whole added 249 finance moves between the two windows, rising from 1,766 to 2,015. London added 3, a change of +0.9% that reads as flat. The city's own market explains part of it: all lateral moves into London were flat at -2.5%, from 1,387 to 1,353. Finance in London kept pace with its city, and the city did not grow.

That is the real contrast. Across the market, finance grew; in London it moved with a flat city instead of with its practice. Yearly totals tell the same story at a slower pace: London finance moves went from 285 in 2024 to 327 in 2025, and the 2026 count to October is 279.

For a firm planning a London finance hire, a flat market means the pool of lawyers in motion is about the size it was a year ago. Candidates are not scarcer than last year, but the extra supply that a growing practice brings elsewhere has not reached London.

In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, New York finance moves rose from 340 to 437, an increase of 97 moves. London's finance count barely moved in the same windows, and London as a city was flat at -2.5%. In 2024 the gap was narrower: New York counted 320 finance moves and London 285.

The shift shows in each city's share of the practice. New York holds 21.5% of finance moves over 12 months, against 20.2% over 3 years. London holds 16.4% over 12 months, against 17.2% over 3 years.

London's slip is small, 0.8 points, and the city is still second only to New York in the practice. For firms with lawyers in both cities, the practical point is that a transatlantic finance team now draws more of its new arrivals from the New York side, and London hires will compete against fewer rival openings than New York ones.

London finance partner moves were flat, 105 and then 92 on the settled windows: the -12.4% change sits inside the noise of two counts this small. Across the practice, finance partner moves rose 10.6%, from 546 to 604. Partner hiring into London at all practices held flat (+1.3%), and New York finance partner moves rose 32.7%.

The level mix in London finance matches its practice and its city closely. Partners were 29.7% of London finance moves over 12 months, against 30.8% for the practice and 29.3% for London at all practices. So the flat partner line is not a change in who moves; it is the whole London finance market holding its size.

The firms that hired the most finance partners in London over 12 months are listed below, by rank and band.

For a partner search, flat means no fresh wave of London finance partners to choose from. A firm that wants a London finance partner this year is fishing in the same pond as last year, and should plan the timeline around a stable, not a growing, candidate list.

The pause does not make London small. London holds 16.4% of all finance lateral moves, an index of 177 against London's share of the whole market. Inside the city, finance is 24.8% of all lateral moves, an index of 178: no practice in London carries more moves. Over 3 years the cell counts 919 finance moves, against 1,080 in New York.

Finance in London is also more local than the practice as a whole. Only 14.9% of London finance movers changed city, against 20.4% across the practice and 15.2% for London at all practices. Over 3 years, 66.5% of the cell's moves came from inside London.

The consequence for a hiring firm: London finance talent is mostly recruited from other London firms, so relocation packages matter less than the offer against the candidate's current London desk.

Sartori & Partners deal records show what London finance lawyers spend their time on. Over 3 years, banking and lending deals were 37.9% of the cell's dated deals, against 48.0% in New York. Leveraged and acquisition finance was 30.2% in London and 27.9% in New York, and project and infrastructure finance was 10.3% against 4.9%.

Deal flow kept running while hiring paused. London finance shows 802 dated deals over 12 months, against 1,126 in New York. That work is concentrated in large firms: 75.1% of London finance movers joined firms of 1,000+ lawyers, against 63.8% across the practice and 68.5% for London at all practices. The lawyer mix agrees with the deal mix: acquisition and leveraged finance is 27.3% of London finance movers over 3 years, against 18.2% in New York.

For a firm building a London finance bench, the deal mix points to where the hires should sit: leveraged finance and project finance are a larger part of the London work than of New York's, and a London hire in plain bank lending is a smaller slice of the city's finance activity.

First, read the London market on its own numbers. The practice as a whole rose 14.1%, but London finance was flat, in step with a flat city; a growth plan built on the practice-wide figure will overstate the London pool. Second, expect partner searches to take as long as last year's: London finance partner moves were flat, while partners across the practice rose 10.6%.

Third, the competition for movers is more intense in New York, where finance moves rose 28.5%. London sees fewer rival searches for the same people, which helps a firm that moves early and offers a clear role. Fourth, London open roles in finance stand at 51 on the data date, against 123 in New York: a smaller visible queue of competing openings.