Ireland continues to benefit from Brexit as 40pc of international financial services firms expect employment to increase.
Ireland has been hearing about the silver lining that comes with Brexit for a while now.
Not only are we set to inherit some of the biggest financial services players from London, but a survey earlier this year indicated that the UK would lose half of its highly skilled EU workers due to Brexit.
Now, in an unsurprising union of the financial sector and employment, it seems that 40pc of international financial services (IFS) providers in Ireland are expected to increase employment in the wake of Brexit.
This is according to a report that was carried out by Finance Dublin in partnership with Deloitte Ireland, based on a survey of 50 companies between March and May of this year. The organisations surveyed represent 51pc of total IFS employment in Ireland.
“The expectation that Ireland will be a beneficiary of Brexit in financial services is backed up the 40pc of firms expecting to see growth in headcount as result of Brexit,” said David Dalton, financial services lead partner at Deloitte Ireland.
“But the regulatory environment and availability of talent are important issues in realising this.”
The report highlighted the main issues and opportunities facing these companies in 2017, most pressing of which was regulatory environment, with half of respondents rating it as ‘very high’ in term of importance regarding future IFS prospects.
Taxation, sector business conditions, global markets and economy, and fintech were also considered to be extremely important.
Respondents to the survey noted the high rating that Ireland receives as a location for fintech as well as regtech, AI and blockchain. The value of these technologies will be key in attracting IFS companies and employees to Ireland.
This will be especially crucial in the coming months as Brexit drives other European hubs – such as Berlin – to ramp up their own efforts to lure players in the IFS industry.
