Deutsche Bank Starts Plans For Frankfurt Move

Robbie Lawther

7 July 2017

German lender has reportedly begun work on moving its European operation from London to Frankfurt, according to the Financial Times.

The new booking centre in Germany will limit the fallout from Britain’s exit from the European Union, if the bank is forced to turn its London branch into a subsidiary.

Deutsche reportedly has billions of Euros of non-European business pass through its London broker dealer, which is the biggest EU bank branch operating in the UK. This is permitted because Deutsche can “passport” into the UK market through the EU’s single market.

However if the UK government decides to pursue "hard Brexit" in the negotiations, then this could mean a loss of access to the single market. This means the passport, which is also relied upon by the multinational banks that use London as a base to sell into Europe, could collapse if departure from the single market takes place.

Deutsche has declined to comment on the matter.

This publication reported last month that Nomura Holdings was looking to move its European base to Frankfurt.