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Goldman Sachs To Have Frankfurt, Paris Hubs After Brexit, Says CEO
Robbie Lawther
22 November 2017
’ chief executive has confirmed the US-headquartered firm will have hubs in Frankfurt and Paris after Brexit, as it prepares to move jobs out of the UK. “We will have more employees on the continent. Some, if they wish, will come from London and we will hire others,” said Blankfein. “Afterwards, it is the people who will largely decide where they prefer to live. And I can imagine that many Americans would prefer to live in Paris than in Frankfurt for many reasons.”
Lloyd Blankfein said during an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro that Goldman Sachs was “approaching the critical moment when we will have to make decisions” and that Goldman would “not have a single centre, but two, in Frankfurt and Paris.”
Blankfein has been vocal about the implications of Brexit on the firm, and has stated it may be forced to move its EU headquarters out of London, as reported by WealthBriefing.
According to Financial Times, Goldman Sachs recently signed a lease on a Frankfurt skyscraper that would allow it to employ 1,000 staff in the city - 800 more than it currently employs.
The US banking and investment group is building a new office in London, which will be based in Farringdon. The firm employs around 6,500 staff in the UK.
This publication reported recently that Blankfein had admitted that the new office may be left half empty when it is completed. The FT also stated that the new London site has been designed so sections can be sublet if it decides not to occupy all of the 850,000 square foot of available space.