After the 2016 vote to leave the European Union, dozens of companies announced or executed partial or full moves of staff, legal entities, and balance-sheet assets out of the United Kingdom. The departures accelerated through 2020 and 2021 as the transition window closed and UK-based banks lost passporting rights to the single market. By 2023, the total number of City jobs shifted from London to the EU had settled at an estimated 7,000 to 10,000, far below the worst-case projections of 50,000 to 75,000 that some consultancies floated in 2016. Asset transfers exceeded £1 trillion by 2021 and continued to grow modestly in subsequent years. No major firm that relocated its EU hub has publicly announced a full return of those activities to the UK.
The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020. A transition period, during which most existing arrangements continued, ended on 31 December 2020. The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement was provisionally applied from 1 January 2021. UK-based banking, insurance, and asset-management firms lost automatic passporting rights to the EU single market after that date. Without a licensed entity inside the bloc, they could no longer serve EU clients from London. That regulatory cliff drove most of the relocations.
Banking and insurance: the biggest wave of departures
The banking and insurance sector accounted for the largest share of post-Brexit relocations by both headcount and asset value. Lenders and insurers set up or expanded EU subsidiaries in Dublin, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Paris, and Amsterdam. Dublin emerged as the most popular destination.
JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase moved hundreds of staff and billions of dollars in assets to EU entities, primarily in Frankfurt and Paris, by 2021. Before the referendum the bank had warned that Brexit could force it to shift thousands of roles, though the actual number moved was lower.
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs expanded its Frankfurt and Paris offices and moved staff and assets there by 2021. The bank had previously operated in Frankfurt through a branch but converted it into a subsidiary to serve EU clients post-Brexit.
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley expanded its Frankfurt hub and moved staff and assets there, making Frankfurt its EU base. The bank also maintained a presence in Paris.
Bank of America
Bank of America expanded its Dublin-based EU banking entity and its Paris markets hub. Dublin became the bank's primary EU legal entity for serving clients across the bloc.
Barclays, NatWest, and the UK retail banks
UK-based retail and investment banks with significant EU client books were among the first to act after the 2016 referendum.
Barclays
Barclays transferred approximately €190 billion in assets to its Irish subsidiary, Barclays Bank Ireland, by 2019. The subsidiary, which had existed since the 1970s, was expanded and recapitalised to serve as the bank's EU platform after passporting ended.
NatWest Group (formerly Royal Bank of Scotland)
Royal Bank of Scotland, now NatWest Group, moved assets and customers to its Dutch subsidiary, NatWest Markets N.V., in Amsterdam. The subsidiary had been established years earlier but was scaled up to handle EU business.
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Banking Group converted its Berlin branch into a subsidiary, Lloyds Bank GmbH, by 2019. The German entity allowed Lloyds to continue serving corporate and institutional clients in the EU after the transition period.
HSBC
HSBC shifted some staff and activities to its Paris-based EU hub. The bank had long maintained a significant presence in France and used that existing infrastructure to absorb post-Brexit relocations.
UBS and Credit Suisse
UBS shifted some staff and functions from London to Frankfurt and other EU locations. Credit Suisse, before its 2023 acquisition by UBS, moved staff and operations to Madrid and other EU hubs.
Corporate headquarters and European hubs
Outside banking and insurance, several major companies relocated their European or global bases from the UK to other EU member states or to Singapore.
Aon
The insurance broker Aon relocated its global headquarters from London to Dublin in 2020. The company cited the need to maintain access to EU markets and regulatory certainty. Dublin offered a common-law legal system and an existing Aon presence.
Panasonic and Sony
Panasonic moved its European headquarters from the UK to Amsterdam in 2018. Sony followed in 2019, also choosing Amsterdam. Both companies cited Brexit-related uncertainty and the desire to keep their European operations inside the single market.
Dyson
Dyson relocated its global headquarters from the UK to Singapore in 2019. The company stated that the move was not solely due to Brexit, citing proximity to Asian markets and manufacturing supply chains. The shift was smaller than it initially appeared: Dyson continued to employ thousands of people in the UK and maintained its research and development footprint there.
Aviation and EU flying rights
Two low-cost carriers took opposite but equally significant steps to secure their post-Brexit operating models.
EasyJet
EasyJet established an Austrian operating company, easyJet Europe, in 2017. The subsidiary held an Austrian Air Operator Certificate, which allowed the airline to continue flying intra-EU routes after Brexit. EasyJet transferred aircraft and crew to the Austrian entity while maintaining its UK headquarters and London Luton base.
Ryanair
Ryanair, which is incorporated in Ireland and regulated by the Irish Aviation Authority, secured a UK Air Operator Certificate in 2018. The certificate allowed Ryanair to operate domestic UK routes after Brexit, since a non-EU airline could not rely on EU traffic rights for flights within the UK. Ryanair already had a UK operating base and simply formalised its legal structure.
EU agencies and the one reversal: Unilever
Two EU agencies that had been based in London relocated before the end of the transition period. These moves were not voluntary but dictated by EU political decisions.
European Banking Authority
The European Banking Authority (EBA) relocated from London to Paris in 2019. The EBA's move was decided by the EU Council in 2017 as part of the process of relocating EU agencies headquartered in the UK. Paris won the bidding process against several other EU capitals.
European Medicines Agency
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) relocated from London to Amsterdam in 2019. The EMA's move was also decided by the EU Council. Amsterdam was chosen after a drawing of lots broke a tie with Milan. The agency lost about a third of its staff, who chose not to relocate.
Unilever: the reversal
Unilever stands as the most prominent example of a company that planned a post-Brexit headquarters move and then reversed it. In 2018, Unilever announced plans to unify its dual-headed legal structure under a single parent company in Rotterdam, effectively moving its headquarters from London. After a shareholder rebellion, the company abandoned that plan in 2020 and unified under a single parent company in London instead. The reversal was driven by shareholder opposition, not by a change in Brexit conditions.
Scale, limits, and what came next
The Bank of England estimated in 2018 that around 5,000 to 10,000 City jobs could move from the UK by Brexit day. By 2021, EY's Brexit Tracker estimated that around 7,600 roles had been relocated from London to the EU since the 2016 referendum. The same tracker estimated that around £1.3 trillion in assets had been moved from the UK to the EU by banking and insurance firms by 2021.
The actual job losses were lower than many early projections because London retained dominance in foreign exchange trading, derivatives clearing, and other capital-market activities. The EU granted only limited equivalence decisions for UK financial offerings, which created ongoing uncertainty but also meant that some firms delayed further moves while waiting for clarity. The UK government passed the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to overhaul post-Brexit regulation, aiming to make the UK more competitive.
Some firms later paused or reduced the scale of further moves as equivalence decisions remained unresolved. But no major company that established an EU hub has announced a full return of those activities to the UK. As of March 2025, the relocations that began after the 2016 referendum have not been reversed in any significant way.
Key facts
- Financial services jobs relocated from London to the EU (by 2023): 7,000-10,000
- Assets moved from UK to EU by financial firms (by 2021): Over £1 trillion
- Most popular destination for relocated financial firms: Dublin, followed by Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Paris
- EU agencies that left London: European Banking Authority (to Paris, 2019), European Medicines Agency (to Amsterdam, 2019)
- Major company that reversed a planned Brexit relocation: Unilever (abandoned Rotterdam move, unified in London, 2020)
- Date UK left EU: 31 January 2020
- Date transition period ended: 31 December 2020
Companies that relocated operations or headquarters out of the UK after Brexit
| Company | Sector | Destination | What moved | Announcement/execution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPMorgan Chase | Banking | Frankfurt, Paris | Staff and assets | By 2021 |
| Goldman Sachs | Banking | Frankfurt, Paris | Staff and assets | By 2021 |
| Morgan Stanley | Banking | Frankfurt | Staff and assets; EU HQ | By 2021 |
| Bank of America | Banking | Dublin, Paris | Staff and assets | By 2021 |
| Barclays | Banking | Dublin | €190bn in assets | By 2019 |
| NatWest Group | Banking | Amsterdam | Assets and customers | By 2021 |
| Lloyds Banking Group | Banking | Berlin | Converted branch to subsidiary | By 2019 |
| HSBC | Banking | Paris | Staff and activities | By 2021 |
| UBS | Banking | Frankfurt, other EU | Staff and operations | By 2021 |
| Credit Suisse | Banking | Madrid, other EU | Staff and operations | By 2021 |
| Aon | Insurance | Dublin | Global HQ | 2020 |
| Panasonic | Electronics | Amsterdam | European HQ | 2018 |
| Sony | Electronics | Amsterdam | European HQ | 2019 |
| Dyson | Technology | Singapore | Global HQ | 2019 |
| EasyJet | Aviation | Austria | EU operating company and AOC | 2017 |
| Ryanair | Aviation | United Kingdom | UK Air Operator Certificate | 2018 |
| European Banking Authority | Regulatory | Paris | Full agency | 2019 |
| European Medicines Agency | Regulatory | Amsterdam | Full agency | 2019 |
Frequently asked questions
Did any company reverse a post-Brexit relocation and return to the UK?
No major firm that relocated its EU hub has publicly announced a full return of those operations to the UK. Unilever abandoned a planned move to Rotterdam in 2020 and unified its legal structure in London instead, but that was a reversal of a planned relocation, not a return after execution.
How many financial services jobs actually left London after Brexit?
EY's Brexit Tracker estimated around 7,600 financial services jobs had been relocated from London to the EU by 2021. By 2023, the total had settled in the range of 7,000 to 10,000, well below early worst-case projections of 50,000 to 75,000.
Why did so many financial firms choose Dublin?
Dublin offered a common-law legal system, an English-speaking workforce, a well-established financial regulator, and proximity to London. It already hosted many international banks and insurers before Brexit.
Did the UK government do anything to stop or reverse these relocations?
The UK government passed the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to overhaul post-Brexit financial regulation and improve the UK's competitiveness. However, no policy measures compelled firms to return operations to the UK.
Are the relocations still happening as of 2025?
The pace of relocations slowed significantly after 2021, but no major firm has announced a full return of EU operations to the UK. The trend is best described as ongoing at a much slower rate.
