Where Next For The World’s Mega-banks And Expat Financiers Post-Brexit?

Dublin wins out over European cities for luring London-based financial services firms.

The question over which European city will gain the most financial services companies fleeing the UK to avoid Brexit’s consequences has now been answered. Out of some 332 financial services firms who’ve moved out of the UK, 115 have chosen the Republic of Ireland’s capital, Dublin. Luxembourg gained second place with 71 and Paris attracted 69, whilst Frankfurt’s 45 and Amsterdam’s 40 making up the total in losses to the UK economy.

Given that the total number of companies upping sticks and leaving was predicted, it now seems that specific companies are clumping together in specific cities. For example, the total of new arrivals in Dublin includes 38 per cent of asset management companies, with Luxembourg getting 32 per cent and Frankfurt cornering 43 per cent of the total of investment banks. Paris has ended up with a mix of all sectors whilst Amsterdam has drawn mostly brokers and traders. Big boys in the trade such as Bank of America are hedging their bets by setting up hubs in both Paris and Dublin as well as forming subsidiaries in Milan, Madrid, Brussels, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.

Post-Brexit, the major Barclays hub will be Dublin, with subsidiaries in Paris and Frankfurt. BNP Paribas’ European base will stay at its Paris global headquarters and is to move 100 staff from London to France, and Blackrock has chosen Amsterdam as its EU hub but is creating an office in Paris for its private equity and hedge fund operations. Goldman Sachs is betting on both Paris and Frankfurt, with Deutsche Bank staying in Frankfurt, and Credit Suisse’s investment bankers will move to Frankfurt while its traders head further south to Madrid. JP Morgan seems to need operations in just about every major European city, with Morgan Stanley in a similar position.

If all the above goes well, expat professionals in this lucrative sector will have a choice between a large number of Europe’s most popular destinations to explore in their free time.