BofA Has Spent $400 Million Preparing for Hard Brexit, CEO Says

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. has spent $300 million to $400 million getting ready for a potential hard Brexit, Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said.

The lender’s preparations include establishing a hub in Dublin and a broker-dealer in Paris, moving staff, creating legal entities and redoing contracts so that it’s ready to operate when the U.K. departs the European Union in March. The lack of a deal between the two trading blocs means that most financial firms are preparing for a situation in which rules, regulations and market structure aren’t firmed up before the divorce, Moynihan said.

“Whenever you plan scenarios you have to go for the worst,” Moynihan said Thursday in a Bloomberg Television interview. “You have to plan for the outcome that’s the hardest to do.”

In the long term, two sets of rules for financial services in the European Union and U.K. will hurt the region’s economy and liquidity, and set back the development of capital markets by 10 to 15 years, Moynihan told a conference in Boston.

"It’s going to be very disruptive," he said.

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