‘Morgan Stanley picking Frankfurt as EU HQ’

FRANKFURT: Morgan Stanley is close to picking Frankfurt for its new European Union (EU) hub in preparation for Britain’s departure from the bloc, said two people briefed on the matter.

Not all of the jobs to be moved out of London will go to Frankfurt, said one of the people. While the broker-dealer business will be based in Frankfurt, asset management operations will be moved to Dublin, the person said.

Morgan Stanley currently employs more than 5,000 in London.

Frankfurt, Germany’s financial centre, offers proximity to the European Central Bank, which supervises EU banks and sets monetary policy for countries that use the euro. The location also provides access to the EU’s most populous country and its biggest economy.

Many big international banks already have a significant presence there, and several of them, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Nomura Holdings Inc, plan to expand in Frankfurt as a result of Brexit. Like Morgan Stanley, most banks are likely to opt for a model that spreads jobs across multiple EU countries.

London has flourished as a hub for global finance in part because firms based in the capital have the right to do business across the 28-nation EU. When the United Kingdom quits the bloc, British banks as well as Londonbased firms from the United States, Japan and other non-EU countries stand to lose this “passport” and may need to channel their business through units based in the bloc.

London could lose 10,000 banking jobs as a result of Brexit, think tank Bruegel estimated earlier this year. The lobby group Frankfurt Main Finance is predicting that Frankfurt could win 10,000 jobs. Other banks that may move additional staff to the German city include JPMorgan Chase & Co, Standard Chartered Plc and Citigroup Inc. Bloomberg