02 March 2021

EY Brexit Tracker: Dublin remains most popular EU relocation city for UK FS firms

43% (95 of 222) of financial services firms* have moved or plan to move some UK operations and/or staff to Europe, taking the total number of Brexit-related job moves to almost 7,600; 36 financial services firms are considering or have confirmed relocating some UK operations and/or staff to Dublin

Since the Referendum, 24 financial services firms have publicly declared they will transfer €1.5trn of UK assets to the EU

Dublin remains the most popular choice for UK financial services firms to relocate staff and/or operations to, with 36 firms saying they have confirmed or are considering relocation to the city. The data from EY’s latest Financial Services Brexit Tracker, published today, also finds that 43% (95 out of 222) of financial services firms have publicly stated they have moved or plan to move some UK operations and/or staff from the UK to Europe, taking the total number of job relocations since the EU referendum to almost 7,600, up from 7,500 in October 2020.

Dublin, Luxembourg and Frankfurt remain top choices for relocation

According to the EY Financial Services Brexit Tracker, since the 2016 Referendum, 40% (89 out of 222) of firms have confirmed at least one location in Europe where they are moving to or are considering moving or adding staff and/or operations to, while 12% of firms have confirmed multiple locations in Europe.

Of the 36 firms who they have confirmed or are considering relocation to Dublin, nine are universal banks, investment banks and brokerages; 18 are wealth and asset managers; and 6 are insurers or insurance brokers.

After Dublin, Luxembourg is the second most popular destination for financial services firms and has attracted 29 companies in total; 14 are wealth and asset managers and six are universal banks, investment banks or brokerages.

Frankfurt has attracted 23 companies in total, 19 of which are universal banks, investment banks or brokerages. Twenty firms say they are considering or have confirmed relocating operations and/or staff to Paris, 14 of which are universal banks, investment banks or brokerages. Other named locations include Madrid (8), Amsterdam (8), Brussels (6) and Milan (5).

Simon MacAllister, Brexit Lead, EY Ireland commented, “As the financial services sector has now largely completed its reorganisation response, it will be interesting to see the medium-term impact as the EU looks to pull parts of the London market to EU locations. Ireland Inc must continue to ensure they work to make Ireland an attractive and competitive location, and that competitiveness must be across the key areas of cost of living, with a particular focus on housing, as well as talent and regulatory.”

Of the 89 Firms that have named at least one European relocation destination to move staff and/or operations to, taking into account that some Firms have named multiple locations:

• 68% of universal banks, investment banks and brokerages monitored have named Frankfurt, 50% have named Paris and 32% have named Dublin
• 54% of wealth and asset managers monitored have named Dublin and 42% have named Luxembourg
• 37% of insurers and insurance brokers monitored have named Dublin, 25% have named Brussels and 25% have named Luxembourg

Migration of UK assets to Europe reaches almost €1.5trn

Twenty-four of the largest financial services firms (ten banks, nine insurance providers, and five wealth and asset managers) have so far transferred or announced an intention to transfer assets out of the UK to Europe due to Brexit. Not all firms have publicly declared the value of the assets that could be transferred, but of those that have, the EY Financial Services Brexit Tracker estimates the figure to be almost €1.5 trillion, up from almost €1.4 trillion in October 2020.

Prof Neil Gibson, Chief Economist, EY Ireland added, “Our data shows that even in the grip of a pandemic, firms are still making decisions to move people and assets to respond to the reshaped geo-political landscape. Sitting atop European charts has become an encouragingly welcome trait for Ireland, with economic growth and tax receipt data likely to mimic its performance in the Tracker. Rising costs remain the one potential brake on the positive momentum and this is certainly an angle competitor cities are using to try to compete with Dublin for post-Brexit relocations.”

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Notes to Editor:

• The EY Financial Services Brexit Tracker monitors the public statements made by 222 of the largest Financial Services Firms with significant operations in the UK across universal banks, investment banks, brokerages, wealth and asset managers, retail banks, private equity houses, insurers and insurance brokers, and FinTechs.
• The Tracker captures public statements made by these firms on key issues across sub-sectors relating to staffing, domicile, financial impact, policy asks, product changes, remuneration and opportunities.
• As the Brexit Tracker only captures pronouncements of the largest Financial Services firms with significant operations in the UK, some companies which have made public pronouncements on Brexit are not included in the statistics as they are not contained within the sample.
• The Brexit Tracker runs from 24 June 2016. For this press release, data is complete as of 28 February 2021.
• The number of new hires in Europe since the referendum remains flat at around 2,850 new jobs.

* Numbers of Financial Services Firms quoted within this press release are taken from the pre-defined universe of 222 firms monitored by the EY Financial Services Brexit Tracker

EY Brexit tracker
Since the Referendum, 24 financial services firms have publicly declared they will transfer €1.5trn of UK assets to the EU

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