Business

Post-Brexit EU hub Numis set-up in Dublin to be wound down after Deutsche takeover

It is understood that most staff are being offered an opportunity to be redeployed

UK brokerage Numis had set up an EU shares trading hub in Dublin following Brexit, however, this is now set to be wound down after Numis was taken over by Deutsche Bank. Photograph: iStock

Joe Brennan
Thu May 2 2024 - 06:15

The Irish stockbroking operation that UK stockbroker Numis opened almost two years ago to service European clients following Brexit is set to be wound down after the wider group was acquired by Deutsche Bank.

Dublin-based Numis Europe Ltd, chaired by former senior Irish Stock Exchange executive Brian Healy and led by chief executive Garret Ward, a one-time head of equities sales trading at Goodbody Stockbrokers, had nine employees as of last September, according to its most recent financial accounts.

Numis was acquired by Deutsche Bank last October for £410 million (€481 million) and renamed the UK firm Deutsche Numis.

“We have recently informed both staff and the regulator that we intend ultimately to migrate the equity sales booking activities of our Irish Deutsche Numis legal entity dealing with EU-based clients to our continental EU hub,” a spokeswoman for Deutsche Numis said in response to questions from The Irish Times. The European Union (EU) hub is in Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank’s headquarters.

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“This transition will be managed in the best interests of our clients and in an orderly way to ensure that we meet our regulatory responsibilities. We have not set a specific timeline on that migration at this time. This has no impact on our other Deutsche Bank entities in Dublin and we remain committed to our wider operation in Ireland.”

It is understood that most staff are being offered an opportunity to be redeployed in London, Frankfurt or, in some cases, Dublin. The spokeswoman declined to comment on this.

Deutsche Bank, which has had operations in the Republic since 1991, currently employs over 200 people in its offices in Grand Canal Square in the capital’s south docklands, which is a hub for the group’s corporate banking business and a data and innovation centre.

Its Irish workforce peaked at over 600, including contractors, in 2021 before the unit culled hundreds of roles as part of a group-wide restructuring plan.

The decision to wind down Numis Europe comes as UK banking giant Barclays, another group that chose Dublin as its EU hub in the wake of Brexit, explores moving European headquarters to Paris.

Barclays Bank Ireland, which is known internally as Barclays Europe, was chosen in early 2017 as the group’s main legal entity in the European Economic Area, a little over six months after the UK voted to exit the EU.

Numis Europe reported a €2.68 million loss for the year to September last year, its first full year in operation, down from a shortfall of €3.06 million for the previous year.

Its revenues for the year came to €3.41 million, including €720,236 of commissions on equity trades, €520,344 of research fees and a further €2.17 million of capital market fees.

Deutsche Numis has been competing with Dublin’s Davy and Goodbody Stockbrokers in recent years in the area of corporate brokerships of Irish companies with UK listings.

It has been involved in equity market transactions of C&C, Molten Ventures and Hostelworld in recent years and is currently helping Cairn Homes buy back some of its own stock on the market.

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan is Markets Correspondent of The Irish Times

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