JPMorgan’s Blessing Says Brexit Moves Now Are ‘First Wave’

(Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. will probably move more bankers from London to continental Europe after some 200 employees were recently told that they’ll need to transfer because of Brexit.

The relocations announced this month are a “first wave” to respond to the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, Dorothee Blessing, the head of the firm’s Frankfurt unit, said in a Bloomberg webinar Thursday.

JPMorgan is on track to become Germany’s sixth-largest lender once the bank has completed moving about 200 billion euros ($230 billion) in assets from the U.K. to Frankfurt, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. International banks have been beefing up operations in the EU to make sure they can continue to service clients once the Brexit transition period runs out at the end of the year.

Blessing declined to comment on the size of the asset shift or its impact on profitability, but said that capital in the Frankfurt unit has grown to support the expansion of the business and the client needs. The Frankfurt-based unit has said it expects to make a profit of 150 million euros this year.

London “continues to be a very important” financial center, even as JPMorgan moves staff and assets, she said. Frankfurt isn’t the only financial center in continental Europe, she also said, signaling the lender may spread the staff leaving London.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Blessing also touched on the topic of bank consolidation in Europe, which she said was inevitable. Blessing co-heads investment banking for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at JPMorgan.

Recently announced bank mergers in Italy and Spain have boosted expectations that the European finance industry may be facing a wave of deals. Statements by top executives from Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG and UBS Group AG at a conference this week further fed the sentiment.

Blessing didn’t comment on whether JPMorgan wants to play a role in this consolidation. The bank has repeatedly said that its German unit will seek market share in investment banking, corporate banking and wealth management.

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