U.K. financial institution Barclays has moved about 15 percent of its total assets to Dublin in anticipation of Brexit, reports in the BBC said on Wednesday (Jan. 30).
About $1.57 trillion in moved assets involves about 5,000 of the bank’s clients, while Barclays noted that it expects minimal impact on its staff in London.
“As we announced in 2017, Barclays will use our existing licensed EU-based bank subsidiary to continue to serve our clients within the EU and beyond 29 March 2019, regardless of the outcome of Brexit,” Barclays said in a statement. Its operations in Dublin are slated to double in size because of the shift in assets related to business that had previously been conducted in the U.K. via EU branches, the BBC said.
“Our preparations are well-advanced, and we expect to be fully operational by 29 March 2019,” the bank added, citing the date that Brexit is slated to occur.
The assets were moved from Barclays corporate banking, investment banking and some private clients from branches across Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden. The High Court granted approval for Barclays to make the move after hearing that Barclays “cannot wait any longer to implement the scheme” as a result of ongoing uncertainty over Brexit.
The asset move is part of Barclay’s plan for a no-deal Brexit.
“The design of the scheme has been based upon an assumption that there will be no favorable outcome of the current political negotiations between the U.K. and the EU as regards to passporting or the grant of equivalence status to the U.K. in respect of financial services,” the judgement stated.
As it prepares for Brexit, Barclays is also said to be exploring an expansion in the U.S., a market that accounts for about 40 percent of its profits, reports in the Wall Street Journal said last year.
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