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Wall Street’s dependence on its India-based Global Capability Centres (GCCs) is entering a new phase as US President Donald Trump’s tightened immigration policies push banks and investment firms to accelerate hiring outside the US.
With the cost of an H-1B visa now at $100,000, financial institutions are shifting high-skilled roles once marked for New York or other US hubs to cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Gurugram.
The shift, already underway for years, is now intensifying. Banks say that for roles with demanding math, analytics, and computer science components, the cost-benefit equation has fundamentally changed.
According to Bloomberg, major banks are actively relocating work to India in response to Trump’s H-1B restrictions. JPMorgan Chase is hiring credit support specialists in Bengaluru to monitor covenant breaches.
Goldman Sachs is recruiting associates for loan review functions across asset portfolios. Private equity giant KKR is expanding its portfolio review operations in Mumbai, and hedge fund Millennium Management is onboarding risk analysts for its derivatives trading division.
Senior executives in two large US banks confirmed that they are in discussions with their headquarters to expand Indian GCCs specifically because of the visa crackdown.
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Trump’s policy aims to protect American jobs by restricting companies from hiring foreign workers. Instead, it is causing banks to expand into offshore hubs.
“The fact that these banks are moving their operations to markets where labor is cheaper now that they cannot abuse the H-1B system is evidence that they were using foreign workers to undercut Americans’ wages,” said White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers.
However, Vivek Ramji Iyer, partner at Grant Thornton Bharat LLP, emphasized that India is “no longer just a low-cost destination,” but a market with deep, globally competitive talent.
Indian campuses now execute some of the most critical quantitative, technological, and risk-management work for Wall Street.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley employ more people in India than in any country outside the US.
JP Morgan already has nearly 20% of its global workforce based in Indian hubs.
These centres handle everything from advanced algorithmic modelling and cybersecurity to portfolio analytics, AI development, derivatives risk oversight, and global compliance processes.
India offers undeniable economic advantages. An engineering graduate working at a bank’s GCC earns between Rs. 3 to Rs. 8 lakh per year ($3,300-$9,000), depending on location.
The same employee on an H-1B visa in the US costs the company around $60,000 a year, while a US citizen in the same role would earn up to $120,000.
Additionally, India ranks among the world’s strongest tech talent pools. According to Colliers’ Global Tech Markets: Top Talent Locations 2025 report, India is one of only three countries, alongside China and Japan to have cities placed in the global top 10 for tech talent density.
The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) and Zinnov estimate that GCC employment could surge 50% to 2.8 million workers by 2030, a target now likely to be reached sooner.
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With H-1B visas becoming expensive and policies intensifying, India is emerging as Wall Street’s most reliable offshore destination. Banks are reassessing staffing strategies, rebalancing roles toward India, and strengthening their long-term GCC infrastructure.
The trend signals a deeper structural shift that India is no longer the back office of global finance; it is becoming the operational core.
