U.S. congressman decries GE Money's move to UK

By Jason Szep

BOSTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - A New York congressman on Friday decried General Electric Co's (GE.N) plan to move its core consumer financial arm's headquarters to London from Connecticut, calling it a "call to action" for policymakers.

U.S. Rep. Vito Fossella, a Republican, said the decision by GE Money reflected a broader trend by U.S. companies to increasingly turn to London and other foreign markets to do business at the expense of the United States.

"GE's announcement should serve as a call to action for U.S. policymakers to improve the regulatory and legal environment here to ensure the United States maintains its position as the world's financial center," he said.

"It should raise concern when a company of its stature moves its headquarters -- and many high-paying jobs -- to another country," he said in a statement.

Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE, the second-largest U.S. company by market capitalization, said on Thursday that new GE Money President and Chief Executive William Cary will be based in London.

This means that two of GE's six divisions -- Money and Healthcare -- will now be headquartered in Britain, representing about a quarter of the $173 billion annual turnover at one of America's best-known brands.

But Bob Rendie, a GE Money spokesman, said the number of jobs moving to Britain is relatively small -- less than 25 of the division's 170 jobs in Connecticut.

State officials in Connecticut had no immediate comment.

During the past year of credit market turmoil, GE Money exited the U.S. subprime lending business and the Japanese consumer loan business. The latter of those was prompted by a Japanese regulatory change.

Despite those exits, GE Money profits rose some 31 percent last year. The division, based in Stamford, Connecticut, has more than $190 billion in assets and operates in 55 countries.

GE Money began operations in the 1930s to help many Americans buy appliances during the Great Depression. It diversified in the 1960s into consumer, commercial and industrial markets.

Cary, 48, previously served as president and chief executive of GE Money's Europe, Middle East and Africa operations, and was already based in London. He reports to GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt.

Chris Linehan, a spokesman for GE Asset Management, said GE Asset was completely separate from GE Money and had no plans to move its headquarters from Stamford, Connecticut.

(Additional reporting by Murali Anantharaman, editing by Richard Chang)