HSBC will keep the vast majority of its UK workforce home for the remainder of 2020, even as Wall Street rivals start to ramp up staff numbers after nationwide lockdown restrictions lifted on 2 December.

The UK lender has been among the most cautious of any major investment bank in asking employees to return to the office, with just 350 of its 10,000 or so London staff working in its Canary Wharf headquarters throughout the pandemic.