Barclays settles on Dublin for post-Brexit EU hub

Barclays has settled on Dublin for its main hub inside the EU after Brexit, and is planning to add about 150 staff here if UK-based finance companies lose easy access to the trading bloc, according to sources.

It is believed the bank started scouting the city for office space this month, and has been in contact with regulators here about expanding its operations.

Barclays is moving ahead with contingency plans so it can continue serving EU clients if UK prime minister Theresa May fails to strike a transitional or permanent deal preserving London's access within the two-year renegotiation period.

“We have made clear repeatedly that we will plan for a range of Brexit contingencies, including building greater capacity into our existing operations in Dublin,” the bank said in a statement. “Identifying available office space is a necessary and predictable part of that contingency planning process.”

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Shift jobs

International banks have started to reveal more about their plans to shift jobs and set up new offices within the EU after Mrs May indicated last week she would pull Britain out of the single market and pursue other arrangements. Financial firms are most concerned about a “cliff edge” Brexit, whereby all access is cut off after two years.

Barclays staff moved to or hired in Dublin could include senior managers, derivatives specialists, currency traders, compliance and human resources staff, it is understood.

The bank has not decided when employees will be moved or new hires made, with the timescale determined by how negotiations progress after article 50 is triggered at the end of March, starting the formal two-year exit process.

The bank already has about 100 employees in its Irish division, which is run by Sasha Wiggins from its office on Hatch Street, near St Stephen's Green in Dublin. A Barclays spokesman declined to comment on staffing plans.

Assumption

Barclays’s “plan A” working assumption is that a deal will eventually be hammered out and British financial companies will not have to relocate services such as euro-clearing to subsidiaries inside the EU, one source said.

Nevertheless, the lack of clarity is thought to have prompted executives to prepare for the worst. It is understood that the bank expects initial contingency planning to cost about £15 million (€17.6m), including fees for lawyers and property agents.

Standard Chartered has also approached Irish officials about making Dublin its legal base inside the EU, while Credit Suisse Group is said to be exploring options to expand in the city. – (Bloomberg)