EU watchdogs give banks no leeway on Brexit-driven hub demands
With banks using extra time to prepare for Brexit regulators are unwilling to push back demands for European hubs
London/Frankfurt — EU regulators are refusing to cut British-based banks any slack over bulking up in the bloc in preparation for Brexit, despite an extension to the process which some have taken as an opportunity to drag their feet. Cost-conscious banks are reluctant to spend millions more and cause further disruption to already unsettled staff given uncertainty over how and when Britain will leave the EU. “Businesses are trying to be savvy, to meet the minimum legal requirement and figure the rest out after Brexit, Hakan Enver, MD for financial services at recruiter Morgan McKinley said. Banks are trying to minimise staff moves despite pressure from the European Central Bank (ECB), which set a proviso to granting licences that firms would beef up their EU units with more employees and assets over the next one to two years. This requirement has not changed, a source close to the matter said, even though the EU has given Britain until October 31 to leave, an extension from the origi...
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