Citigroup picks Frankfurt as its EU trading hub
Group to present option to board of directors this week
NEW YORK: Citigroup Inc has chosen Frankfurt as its newest trading hub in the European Union and plans to present that option to its board of directors this week for approval, according to a person with knowledge of the decision.
The choice to expand the bank’s existing broker-dealer in the German city meant it would create between 150 and 250 new roles there, said the person, who asked not to be identified talking about internal policies.
It’s yet to be decided if the jobs would be filled by moving existing employees or by hiring locally, and it’s likely to be some combination, the person said.
The location, where Citigroup already has about 350 employees, is expected to handle some of the trading activities currently done in London, though the UK capital would remain the headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the person said.
Sky News reported the decision on Monday.
Frankfurt has emerged as a winner of the Brexit vote, with Standard Chartered Plc, Nomura Holdings Inc, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc and Daiwa Securities Group Inc picking the city as their EU hub in recent weeks.
Deutsche Bank AG is preparing to move large parts of the trading and investment-banking assets it currently booked in London to its hometown of Frankfurt, people familiar with the matter said this month.
Citigroup has been considering the move for months. The firm was evaluating locations in Ireland, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, Jim Cowles, the bank’s top executive for the region, said at a Dublin conference in January.
Bloomberg News reported in November that the firm was in dis- cussions with BaFin, the German regulator that’s seen by many as the only regulator outside of London capable of handling the banks’ complicated derivatives business, about moving some of its London-based equity and interest-rate derivatives traders to Frankfurt.
The lender is also in discussions with the European Central Bank and regulators in EU nations including Ireland about relocating other parts of its operations.
Frankfurt is a natural pick for many international firms, given a financial ecosystem featuring Deutsche Bank AG, the ECB and BaFin. — Bloomberg