Brexit: £1 trillion of assets, 7,400 jobs leave UK

Dublin

Brexit has caused more than 440 firms in the UK banking and finance industry to relocate part of their business, move some staff, or set up new entities in the EU, a report from the New Financial think tank said on Friday.

The report said banks have moved or are moving more than £900 billion in assets from the UK to the EU, and insurance firms and asset managers have transferred more than £100 billion in assets and funds.

“… we have identified around 7,400 staff moves or local hires in response to Brexit, but this is derived from only a small minority of firms, and we expect this number to increase in the next few years,” said the New Financial report.

“The bigger issue is not jobs leaving the UK but new jobs in the EU being created in future that might otherwise have been created in the UK …

“Only a small number of firms have said what they are moving and already the numbers are very large: £900bn in bank assets is roughly 10% of the UK banking system.

“The final tally is likely to be higher, which will reduce the UK’s tax base, supervisory influence, and ultimately have an impact on jobs.”

Dublin has emerged as the clear winner in terms of attracting business from the UK, with 135 firms choosing the Irish capital as a post-Brexit location.

This represents 25% of all the moves, ahead of Paris with 102 firms, Luxembourg with 93, Frankfurt on 62, and Amsterdam on 48.

In the longer-term, New Financial said it expects Frankfurt to be the winner in terms of assets, and Paris in terms of jobs.

“While this is the most comprehensive analysis yet of the impact of Brexit on the City, we think it is an underestimate: we are only at the end of the beginning of Brexit,” said the New Financial report.

The report said different financial centres have attracted different firms based on their sector of activity.

“For example, a third of all asset management firms that have moved something as a result of Brexit have chosen Dublin; 60% of the firms that have chosen Frankfurt as their main EU base are banks; and nearly two thirds of firms moving to Amsterdam are trading platforms, exchanges or broking firms …

“… the shift in business, assets and legal entities will gradually chip away at the UK’s influence in the banking and finance industry in Europe and around the world, as a greater proportion of business is authorised by and conducted in the EU.

“It could also significantly reduce the UK’s £26bn trade surplus in financial services with the EU as services that were previously exported from the UK are provided locally.”