Goldman Delays Launch of Consumer Bank  in Germany, FT Says

(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs has put off the German launch of its consumer bank Marcus until next year because of the delay in Brexit and cost constraints, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing two people familiar with the situation.

Had Brexit taken place on March 29 as planned, Goldman would have "wanted Germany more urgently," one of the people said, referring to the need to fund Goldman’s trading operation in Frankfurt for European Union clients.

Goldman declined to comment to the FT, but U.K. Marcus head Des McDaid told the paper the launch in the U.K had been successful and Marcus is focusing on expanding there before branching out into other countries.

Goldman Sachs International Chief Executive Officer Richard Gnodde said last year that the launch into Germany of its online savings and loans platform would take place in 2019 to coincide with Brexit and the need to have a local base to finance EU commitments.

To contact the reporter on this story: Deana Kjuka in Prague at dkjuka@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Katerina Petroff at kpetroff@bloomberg.net, Andrew Davis, James Amott

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