The Financial Times: Big US banks prepare to shift operations from London

The Financial Times reports that banks have already begun to take action to shift operations out of the UK.

The big US banks — JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley — have large operations employing tens of thousands of people in the UK, mainly concentrated in London. They are now preparing to move part of these operations to Dublin, Paris and Frankfurt.

François Villeroy de Galhau, governor of France’s central bank, the Banque de France, has warned that banks will lose “passporting” rights to operate in the EU if the UK leaves the single market. He pointed out that the City of London cannot operate by the EU’s rules unless the UK is a member of the European Economic Area (like Norway).

He said on radio in France: “There is a precedent – it is the Norwegian model of the European Economic Area – that would allow Britain to keep access to the single market, but by committing to implement all EU rules.”