Off the wire
• Oil prices retreat on EIA forecast  • Austrian chancellor hails positive economic cooperation with Romania  • Zidane, Simeone warm up for Champions League semi-final  • Number one seed Murray progresses comfortably in Madrid  • U.S. dollar rises against other major currencies  • Iraqi forces recapture new areas in western Mosul  • 2nd LD Writethru: Moon Jae-in wins S.Korean presidential election  • OSCE launches observation mission for Albanian election  • Netanyahu meets U.S. army leader to enhance military ties  • Latvian gov't strikes tax reform deal  
You are here: 　 Home

Banks discuss relocating to Frankfurt in wake of Brexit

Xinhua, May 9, 2017 Adjust font size:

German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) is in talks with multiple financial firms applying for bank licensing in Germany as a reaction to Great Britain's Brexit vote.

More than 20 banks operating in Great Britain have contacted the BaFin, over ten already expressed interests in relocating to Frankfurt, BaFin's Chief Executive Director of Banking Supervision Raimund Roseler said Tuesday at an annual press conference in Frankfurt.

Roseler expects the applications for a bank license in the second half of 2017.

London banks require an independent subsidiary located in Europe to continue operating within the 27 remaining EU states after the Brexit in March 2019. This is why the financial firms are moving their business activity from Great Britain to the European mainland.

Paris and Dublin are also potential location candidates, since most large firms follow a strategy of "not putting all eggs in one basket", said BaFin President Felix Hufeld. Still, Frankfurt plays a major role in this scenario, according to Hufeld.

Hufeld warned against the demands of many French and German politicians to relocate the derivative transactions to Europe as well.

These solutions "seem interesting on the first glance, but on the second glance could cause protectionist collateral damage", Hufeld said. Endit