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Frankfurt was by far the most popular destination for the new roles, the survey showed, with Paris a distant second. [...]
Nearly half of the companies surveyed told Reuters they would have to move staff or restructure their businesses because of Brexit, which is due to take place in March 2019. Another third said it would have no impact, and the remainder said they were still deciding on their plans or declined to comment.
The number of jobs to be moved or created overseas was based on answers from 39 companies employing at least 350,000 people. About 1.1 million people work in Britain’s financial sector. [...]
Most respondents said bigger moves could be in store in a decade or more, however.
“If it is going to happen it won’t be in one big bang,” said a senior executive at one of Europe’s largest banks, which took part in the survey. “There will be a slow drain of jobs from London over a number of years.”
The survey also suggests some financial institutions may be delaying decisions, hoping a soft Brexit can be negotiated in talks currently going on in Brussels. BoE Governor Mark Carney has specifically warned companies against that approach, saying it’s important to start planning now.
“They would like to think there is going to be a mutually easy way of dealing with financial services across the EU-UK border,” said Andrew Gray, global head of Brexit for financial services at PwC.
“So firms are finding it hard to land on precise plans.” [...]