INVESTMENT BANK MORGAN Stanley has denied reports it is already in the process of moving 2,000 of its London-based staff to Dublin or Frankfurt.
The BBC is reporting that the bank has a taskforce in place to facilitate a move in the wake of a Brexit and that the process has already started.
Sources within the bank said the jobs which would be moved from the UK would include senior management as well as those involved in Euro clearing and other investment banking functions.
A spokesman for Morgan Stanley told Reuters the story was not true, but declined to elaborate further.
In its official response to the UK referendum decision, the investment bank warned that “the UK’s vote to leave the European Union is a very significant decision which will have a considerable impact”.
However, it noted “there will be time to implement any changes required to adjust” its banking business.
In an interview with Bloomberg earlier this week, the president of Morgan Stanley, Colm Kelleher, said a Brexit would be “the most consequential thing postwar that we’ve ever seen”.
“We’re hoping that the British voter will show sense and listen to the economic arguments and stay,” Kelleher said. “But we clearly are looking at our plans.”
He said that the New York-based firm would consider moving its European headquarters from London.
London cannot not suffer in the event of a Brexit vote, and the reason for that is historic. London has done very well by virtue of being part of the European Union. Its market, the exchanges, clearing, everything is based on London.
Additional reporting - © AFP 2016
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