Skyline of the Dublin docklands. Image: David Soanes/Shutterstock
Dublin set for Brexit boom as IDA reveals 12 London firms plan to relocate from the UK capital.
Dublin appears to be winning the spoils of the Brexit war, trumping Luxembourg, Paris and Frankfurt.
IDA Ireland has revealed that 12 financial firms from the city of London are relocating to the Irish capital.
‘A number of these groups have privately decided they have selected Dublin’
– KIERAN DONOGHUE
According to reports, definitive decisions have been taken to relocate offices that employ between 10 and 500 people to Dublin.
Day-one ready
According to The Guardian, the companies are acting fast on contingency plans to have real estate, trading floors and credit ratings in place as soon as possible.
This is because they are obliged by regulators to be ‘day-one ready’ for when Brexit happens at the end of March 2019.
To add to the drama, Bank of England told financial firms to provide details of their Brexit plans by 14 July and to be ready for all kinds of scenarios, including a hard Brexit.
It is understood that the IDA has fielded more than 80 inquiries since the Brexit referendum a year ago.
IDA Ireland’s head of international financial services, corporate strategy and public policy, Kieran Donoghue, confirmed to The Guardian that more than a dozen across the spectrum, including more than one American bank, have selected Dublin. One of these was potentially moving 1,000 staff to the Irish capital.
“A number of these groups have privately decided they have selected Dublin but won’t announce until they conclude discussions with the regulatory regimes in Britain, Ireland, the European Central Bank and regulatory authorities in the US. Given the scale of these groups, this is very sensitive,” Donoghue said.
Many of the Brexit moves are already in action. US bank JP Morgan is buying a landmark building in Dublin and plans to double staff in the city to 1,000 while Goldman Sachs is also reportedly planning to move hundreds of staff out of London.
Donoghue’s comments echo points made by Russ Shaw of Global Tech Advocates, who warned that fast-growing London fintech firms will open offices in Dublin to avoid losing highly skilled EU talent when Brexit finally becomes a reality.
Shaw said there are concerns within London’s tech community about the future, and specifically passporting rights.
“One of the things that will happen is, we assume we will lose passporting rights. London fintech businesses will need to look at opening offices in Dublin, and Dublin will benefit by working with London fintech players.”
