Banks in UK will shift some activities to Frankfurt in 2017: official

[LONDON] Banks based in London will begin moving some operations to Frankfurt in the second half of next year to ensure full access to the European Union market, a top Frankfurt official said on Monday.

Hubertus Vaeth, who heads Frankfurt Main Finance, which promotes the German financial centre, said banks have told him they will be moving some operations to Germany next year.

"The precise size is still open. There will be some re-engineering to be done, and there is no pressure to hurry that up," Mr Vaeth told Reuters on the sidelines of a Brexit conference.

"We already see small teams, explorative teams looking into certain aspects. We see options for real estate, and we have very, very clear indications that things will be moved, however, not entire operations," Mr Vaeth said.

Some small operations could begin moving in coming months, but the main relocations will be slightly later.

"We expect them in the second half of next year. The big moves will start in the second half of 2017," Mr Vaeth said.

REUTERS