God and the City

Ken Costa, one of the most influential bankers in London, writes about how his faith impacts his working life

A book by one of the country’s leading bankers, Ken Costa, Deputy Chairman of UBS bank, is published this month. In this extract, he describes how he became a Christian and the influence his faith has had upon his working life.

‘As an investment banker in the City of London, I have read the Financial Times and the Bible almost every day for the last thirty years. People often ask how I reconcile being a banker and a Christian. There is a widespread view that God and business simply don’t mix. The competitive, cut-throat demands of the marketplace are seen as the obvious enemy of Christian compassion and love. But I have found that the God who created and sustains the world is also the God of the workplace. If the Christian faith is not relevant in the workplace, it is not relevant at all.

But where did this journey of faith start? I was born in a nominally Christian country, South Africa, and grew up in the brutally oppressive apartheid era.’

Read more in UKFocus, in association with Alpha News.
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