EY study shows that uncertainty has driven operations abroad ahead of Brexit

Financial services companies have moved almost £800bn in staff, operations and other assets to Europe since the Brexit referendum, according to a report from consultancy EY.

The study from EY, which tracks the public declarations of 222 of the largest UK financial services firms over plans to reduce the effect of an uncertain Brexit on operations, highlights the broad-ranging business ramifications of Britain’s divorce from the EU.

“As things stand, and per regulatory expectations, financial services firms have no choice but to continue preparing on the basis of a ‘no deal’ scenario,” said Omar Ali, UK financial services leader at EY.

The £800bn figure was determined using just the public announcements of the companies included in the survey, which means that the number could prove “conservative” according to EY. Not all of the firms that have revealed Brexit plans have publicly declared the value of their transferred assets, it said.

“This number is still modest given total assets of the UK banking sector alone is estimated to be almost £8tn but may become larger as we move towards Brexit,” EY said.

Companies in the study have added nearly 2,000 new Europebased roles since the referendum, although the study estimates that the number could rise closer to 7,000 in the near future.

As of the end of November, 36 per cent of surveyed companies have confirmed or stated their intentions to relocate some operations to Europe. This includes 55 per cent of banks, investment banks and bro-