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Dublin benefits most from Brexit financial services relocations – EY

March 2, 2021

Dublin remains the most popular destination for UK financial services firms looking to relocate staff or operations as a result of Brexit, according to EY.

The accounting and consulting firm has been compiling a tracker of movement of services and staff at 222 financial services firms in the UK since the Brexit referendum in 2016.

36 firms say they have either moved or are considering moving staff or services, or both, to Dublin specifically.

Of the 36, nine are universal banks, investment banks and brokerages, 18 are wealth and asset managers, while the remaining six are insurers or insurance brokers.

Luxembourg was the second most popular destination after Dublin with 29 companies relocating staff or services there, followed by Frankfurt and Paris.

The EY Financial Services Brexit Tracker also finds that 43% – 95 out of 222 – of financial services firms have publicly stated they have moved or plan to move some UK operations and/or staff from the UK to Europe.

This takes the total number of job relocations since the EU referendum to almost 7,600, up from 7,500 in October 2020.

However, the number of new jobs created in the EU by these firms has remained static at around 2,850 roles.

“Our data shows that even in the grip of a pandemic, firms are still making decisions and moving people and assets to respond to the reshaped geo-political landscape,” Professor Neil Gibson, Chief Economist with EY Ireland said.

“Sitting atop European charts has become an encouragingly welcome trait for Ireland, with economic growth and tax receipt data likely to mimic its performance in the tracker.”

He pointed to rising costs in Ireland as a potential brake on the momentum.

“This is certainly an angle competitor cities are using to try to compete with Dublin for post-Brexit relocations,” he added.

The figures also show that the volume of UK assets that have migrated to European countries since the Brexit vote has increased to almost €1.5 trillion, up from almost €1.4 trillion in October 2020.

24 firms – ten banks, nine insurance providers, and five wealth and asset managers – have so far transferred or announced an intention to transfer assets out of the UK to Europe due to Brexit.

Article Source – Dublin benefits most from Brexit financial services relocations – EY – RTE – Brian Finn

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