JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Financial) is the latest big bank to announce that it's moving staff from London because of Brexit.
A report shared by SaxonTrade on Facebook (FB, Financial) says the bank plans to move hundreds of London-based bankers to its Luxembourg, Dublin and Frankfurt offices to maintain easy access to the European Union's single market.
In an interview with Riyadh last Tuesday, Daniel Pinto, head of Europe, Middle East and Africa operations, said JPMorgan will use its three European banks as "anchors."
"We will have to move hundreds of people in the short term to be ready for day one, when negotiations finish, and then we will look at the longer-term numbers," Pinto said.
Big banks are stepping up preparation efforts for the U.K.'s exit from the EU after British Prime Minister Theresa May triggered the formal exiting process.
Prior to the U.K.'s vote to exit the EU, CEO Jamie Dimon said as many as 4,000 employees might be relocated if the referendum passed. In January, Dimon said that number might be even higher, depending on the results of the negotiations.
Sources close to the matter say treasury services will likely be handled by the Luxembourg office, Frankfurt will handle the banking operations, and Dublin will handle custody. The bank will move between 500 and 1,000 employees to the three main offices and others in the region.
Bloomberg reported in March that JPMorgan was scouting out offices in Frankfurt and Dublin.
Pinto has said that the company is also planning to add 200 staff to offices in North Africa and the Middle East, two regions on which the bank is bullish.
"I'm bullish on emerging markets in general," said Pinto when speaking on the sidelines at the Euromoney conference in Saudi Arabia. "We are well-positioned in this region, Asia and Latin America."
"We have a plan for a scenario where there is no U.K.-EU passporting deal, and we have to move a substantial portion of our business to continue serving our European clients," said Pinto.
The CEO said the bank's strategy will be dependent on how the negotiations pan out.
In its annual letter to shareholders, Dimon said the bank was preparing for the worst: a hard Brexit.
JPMorgan is the latest bank to outline its plan for Brexit in March 2019. Deutsche Bank AG (DB, Financial) says it plans to move 4,000 of its London staff. Goldman Sachs (GS, Financial) says it plans to start relocating employees next year while Barclays PLC (BCS, Financial) (LSE:BARC, Financial) will activate its contingency plan within the next six months.
Bruegel, the economic think tank, says London could lose as many as 10,000 banking jobs and another 20,000 jobs in financial services. Other estimates put London's bank job losses between 4,000 and 232,000.
JPMorgan's stock was up 0.58% in late-afternoon trading despite news of the staff move.
Michael Barnier, EU's head Brexit negotiator, said on Wednesday that there will be no immediate negotiations regarding the UK's exit from the bloc. Barnier said any discussions related to trade relationship between the EU and the U.K. will wait until the end of the year, at the earliest.
Disclosure: The writer has no stake in any of the equities mentioned.
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