Interactive Brokers Starts Irish Unit for Post-Brexit Hiring

(Bloomberg) -- Interactive Brokers Group Inc. plans a post-Brexit hiring spree in Ireland after the nation’s central bank authorized the firm to set up a new entity in the country.

The Greenwich, Connecticut-based broker “expects to expand its staffing substantially over the next year” amid “strong growth” in Europe, it said Wednesday. The firm’s Irish unit has hired about 45 people so far in Dublin, with additional plans to increase that figure by around 50% within a year, the company said in response to questions.

Ireland has seen a surge of companies establishing locally based operations ahead of the historic rupture between London’s financial center and the European Union. The post-Brexit transition period expires at the end of this year, and talks about the U.K.’s future trading relationship and access for financial services remain uncertain.

“We are expanding to Ireland partly due to Brexit and partly due to our plan of establishing subsidiaries around the world,” Chairman Thomas Peterffy said in the statement.

Peterffy’s company is one of the biggest online brokers in the U.S. A spike in individual investing during the pandemic has buoyed the industry this year.

Interactive plans to increase its Irish staff numbers over the next three to five years, with almost all of the new employees local hires rather than relocations from other offices. Its new office will include positions in compliance, customer service and risk.

More than 100 companies have sought authorization to set up or widen operations in Ireland as a result of Brexit, according to the Irish central bank. Among those that have moved staff from London, Bank of America Corp. and Barclays Plc picked Dublin as their main European base. Toronto-Dominion Bank chose Dublin as its main EU trading hub.

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