EU could force more jobs out of UK, claims JPMorgan Chase CEO

JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon said European Union officials could force London-based firms to move substantially more employees abroad than currently planned if they demand that additional banking operations are performed inside the bloc.

“We’re going to have to move several hundred jobs” on day one, which is pretty easy, Dimon said on Tuesday at a conference in Paris.

“I think people should focus more on the second step. If the EU determines over time that they want to move a lot more jobs out of London into the EU, they can simply dictate that.”

Global banks are preparing to move some London-based operations into new or expanded bases inside the EU after British prime minister Theresa May began the formal process for quitting the 28-nation bloc.

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Before last year’s referendum, Dimon told UK employees that as many as 4,000 could ultimately be relocated in the event of Brexit. Three quarters of the bank’s 16,000 UK staff service EU customers.

“If regulators say one day we’re not comfortable with your risk people, your lawyers, your compliance being in the UK they can make us move it,” Dimon said. “We will be subject to what they do down the road and hopefully we can handle that and continue to serve our clients in the meantime.”

The firm’s EU investment banking operations will likely be based in Frankfurt, while custody will be located in Dublin and treasury services will be handled in Luxembourg, a person familiar with the bank’s plans said in March.

JPMorgan will initially move between 500 and 1,000 staff to the three cities and others in the region, the person said at the time.

- Bloomberg