UBS backtracks on shifting jobs out of the City
THE boss of Swiss bank UBS has said plans to move 1,000 jobs from London as a result of Brexit are now looking “more and more unlikely”.
Sergio Ermotti, the chief executive, said the banking giant’s fear of losing a fifth of its 5,000-strong UK workforce in the wake of the vote to leave was now unlikely to materialise following some “regulatory and political clarification about what we need to do”.
The bank joined some of its rivals earlier this year in predicting that a “hard” Brexit would cost thousands of jobs as Uk-based firms lost “passport” rights to service clients in the EU.
While UBS has softened its stance on the number of jobs that are likely to move, it is still formulating plans to protect itself. Mr Ermotti looked to soothe concerns for London staff yesterday by saying that it was his “target” to “keep as many people as we can in London”.
UBS is one of the last big banks yet to decide on where it might relocate people post-brexit, with London staff asked to rank whether they would prefer to relocate to Amsterdam, Madrid or Frankfurt, sources told Reuters.
“We are finalising our plan on where to move people that need to be moved over the next one to three years depending on the outcome of this political discussion and negotiation,” Mr Ermotti said.
It is unclear what reassurances it has received to make its earlier estimate for job moves seem unrealistic, with a spokesman declining to comment further.
It is likely other banks have been sent the same message. However, the head of lobby group Thecityuk said some of the damage was now irreversible, with institutions already pushing ahead with plans to leave.
Frankfurt, where UBS already has a licence, is emerging as a clear winner. Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs recently signed a lease there that could house up to 1,000 staff, while Germany’s financial watchdog has said it could see up to 20 more firms move over.
While a recent tweet by Goldman’s chairman Lloyd Blankfein about the amount of time he will be spending in Frankfurt was seen as a potshot at Brexit, many will regard Mr Ermotti’s comments as proof that the threat of Brexit’s impact on the City is being overblown.