Barclays considers expanding Dublin offices after Brexit, with 150 new jobs

Barclays is considering expanding its Dublin offices after Britain leaves the EU, the latest in a string of banks reacting to the expected loss of access to the single market.

It is expected the expansion will provide 150 new jobs in Dublin, though some may transfer from the bank's UK operations.

Dublin is one of a number of EU cities the lender is eyeing as part of contingency plans, although it is not clear whether London-based jobs would be moved or if new staff would be hired.

Barclays already has a subsidiary and banking licence in Dublin - where around 100 staff are employed - giving it access to the single market after Brexit. The lender has operations in other cities EU cities including Frankfurt, Madrid and Paris.

A Barclays spokesman said: "We have made clear repeatedly that we will plan for a range of Brexit contingencies, including building greater capacity into our existing operations in Dublin.

"Identifying available office space is a necessary and predictable part of that contingency planning process."

Chief executive Jes Staley affirmed the bank's commitment to Britain last week, adding that Brexit would not threaten its London operations.

But a number of global lenders, including JP Morgan and HSBC, have said that parts of their businesses would be moved from the City in response to Brexit and Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to rule out single market membership.

It means UK-based banks are likely to lose passporting rights, which allow financial services to trade freely within the EU's single market.

US bank Citigroup and insurance market Lloyd's of London have also said they are evaluating the feasibility of shifting some UK-based operations to the EU, and will make decisions over the coming months.

Mrs May met bank bosses and business chiefs at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, days after unveiling priorities for Brexit negotiations.

The British Prime Minister said the talks were "positive" and insisted her vision of a "global Britain" would keep posts in the UK.

Here are the banks and financial services firms mulling changes to their UK and EU operations:

:: Barclays is considering bulking up its Dublin offices - which hosts about 100 staff - after Britain leaves the EU. It is one of a number of EU cities that the lender is eyeing as part of its Brexit contingency plans, though it is not clear whether London jobs would be moved, or if new staff would be hired.

:: JP Morgan has said around 4,000 of its 16,000 UK staff could be shifted out of Britain. Chief executive Jamie Dimon said in January the number could rise or fall depending on the outcome of Brexit negotiations.

:: Goldman Sachs played down reports that the bank could cut London staff in half to around 3,000 and organise transfers to New York and to a new subsidiary in Frankfurt. But chief executive Lloyd Blankfein said that New York is already gaining from Brexit as the US bank pulls back on previous plans to shift operations to Britain.

:: HSBC boss Stuart Gulliver has said the bank is on course to move 1,000 jobs from its London office to France, where it already has a full service universal bank after buying up Credit Commercial de France in 2002.

:: Swiss bank UBS has said that 1,000 of its 5,000 UK staff are currently involved in operations dependent on passport rights, which are expected to be lost as a result of Brexit.

:: Insurance market Lloyd's of London is currently assessing the feasibility of moving a portion of their businesses to new EU subsidiaries in a bid to protect its European revenues, which account for about 11% of its business. It is understood to have shortlisted five cities, with hopes of unveiling an alternative location for part of its business by February.

:: Taxpayer-backed Lloyds Banking Group is one of the only high street lenders without an EU subsidiary, but is reportedly looking at arrangements to maintain access to the single market. It currently has offices in Frankfurt and Amsterdam.

:: US bank Citigroup, which employs around 9,000 UK staff, is planning to shift its broker-dealer business to the EU.

:: The London Stock Exchange has said that a "few thousand jobs" will be lost when euro clearing operations leave the UK. However, chief executive Xavier Rolet said the move would also trigger the loss of around 232,000 jobs across related trading, syndication, distribution, risk management and IT.