According to reports, JP Morgan has put on alert hundred of its employees in the UK while dozens from Goldman Sachs has also been told that they would have to relocate to other European Union countries after March 29 irrespective of whether or not there is ia delay in t he setting of Brexit beyond that date.

This is expected to the likely trend among most of the banks in the Square Mile as most of the foreign owned investment banks are implementing emergency steps to ensure that they are able to tide over the period of uncertainty which, as it now appears, could last through the summer, pursuant to the outcome of the vote in the UK parliament this week.

According to reports published in British media, JP Morgan has put on alert about 400 of its staff in the UK to move to other rival locations such as Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Dublin as the bank gears up to face the eventualities of a no-deal Brexit. This is a part of the strategy of the bank to delay the relocation as much as possible to avoid any unnecessary disruptions in business.

While the current relocation plans of the banks have not been impacted by the UK parliamentary vote last week in favour of an extension to article 50 because that extension still has to be agreed to by the EU, all of the developments are reportedly being closely watched by JP Morgan. The reports claimed that in the meantime, all of the employees who would be impacted and who primarily work across sales and trading have been clearly informed that on standby.

According to sources quoted in reports, there are few dozen employees of Goldman Sachs associated with the trading desk who have been put on standby to relocate overnight. There are about 6,000 employees in the UK working for the US investment bank and according to reports, as many as 700 of them could be relocated in the eventuality of a no deal Brexit. Reports also said that the bank has already moved about 150 staff to other offices in the EU so far and most of those staff are national from either of the rest of 27 member states of the EU.

There were however no comments available in the media from JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.

It was not yet time for companies to step back on their Brexit plans, said Liam McLaughlin, an EY partner and the firm’s financial services Brexit lead. “Over the last three years, financial services firms have invested significant time and resources in preparing for all possible scenarios, and our view is they are unlikely to halt their plans for a no-deal in hope of a possible extension,” he said.

“There would be a real operational risk if firms started to stand down their no-deal preparations now only to have to try to stand them up again if no-deal becomes a reality in two weeks,” he added.

(Adapted from TheGuaredian.com)