Wall Street firms could back campaign for UK to stay in Europe

A report from news agency Reuters claims Goldman Sachs has agreed to donate a “substantial six-figure sum” while JPMorgan was preparing to make a similar donation.

In the face of growing Euroscepticism among the British electorate and political pressure from within his own party, Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to hold a referendum on Britain’s EU membership by the end of 2017.

On Thursday, Cameron was preparing to urge business leaders at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos to speak up in favour of Britain staying in a reformed EU.

Cameron is hoping to head off the threat of a British exit, or ‘Brexit’, by negotiating a package of reforms to the bloc that address concerns about immigration, sovereignty and competitiveness. He received some support on Thursday from French President Francois Hollande, who said none of Britain’s EU reform demands were “insurmountable”, but that they must not prevent the euro zone from pursuing further integration.

Public opinion is finely balanced and renegotiations with Cameron’s EU peers have met with some resistance.

A spokesman for pro-EU group Britain Stronger in Europe, the expected recipient of the donations, said it had a broad range of backers: “This includes many small donors, philanthropists and businesses worried by job losses and price rises if we were to leave.”