10 July 2017

Financial Times: Dublin is top destination for financial groups post-Brexit

Dublin is the top destination of the leading financial services companies that have already made statements on where they plan to set up their post-Brexit EU bases, a report from EY reveals.

Banks, insurers, asset managers and funds are looking for new EU homes because they fear Brexit will mean the loss of the “passport” they use to do business across Europe from their London bases.

Frankfurt has garnered most of the recent headlines for winning business, with Japanese banks Daiwa and Nomura announcing they would set up EU bases in the German city.

But the EY study, which follows statements from 222 of London’s biggest financial services companies, said that so far 19 had spoken of a move to Dublin/Ireland, whereas just 18 have mentioned Frankfurt/Germany. Luxembourg comes in third place, with 11 mentions.

“The variety of locations being announced highlights that no one European centre is emerging as a compelling alternative to London,” said Omar Ali, EY’s UK financial services leader.

Insurers, including Legal & General and Standard Life, are leading the charge to Dublin, while Luxembourg is a favourite with wealth and asset management, six of whom have named the tiny country as a Brexit option. Frankfurt is expected to win most of the investment banks, though the EY study said so far Dublin and Frankfurt were tied for investment bank business, followed by Paris.

Mr Ali said the number of companies that had spoken publicly about plans to move operations from London had increased only slightly since March, when 53 had made public statements. Fifteen of those have said that they are moving operations from London but have not said where they will move them to.

“The difference three months on from the triggering of Article 50 [on March 29] is that we are seeing major financial brands put their contingency plans into action,” he said. “This process will only accelerate as firms finalise their submissions to the regulators on their Brexit plans.”

Executives say they will have to take decisions on their plans before the UK agrees its exit deal, because the plans can often involve lengthy regulatory processes. They also have to start earlier to find real estate in cities that are much smaller than London. [...]

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