Media reports suggest that Citigroup is contemplating moving some jobs out of London as the UK readies itself to separate from the other EU Member States.

Citigroup expects to move about 200 jobs out of London, according to press reports, as a result of the UK's divorce from the European Union.

Jim Cowles, the banking group's head in Europe, recently told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the bank "is expected to move around 200" jobs away from London. In late January, the firm told this publication it had not yet come to any type of decision.

Citigroup still has to decide where to move the jobs. The German newspaper reported that Cowles was contemplating Frankfurt - where it has a staff of 370 - as a base for its trading operations. He did not elaborate on the future location of the group's private banking operations, but he made the general point that he was working on the assumption that the UK would not have unfettered access to the European Union after it left and that Citi had to "adapt to the worst case".

Cowles said that his group was thinking of Frankfurt because it had a large pool of talent and because the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, Germany's financial regulator with whom Citi has had conversations about relocating, was “professional”. Cowles expects Citi to make the final decisions in the summer. 

Citigroup could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.