UBS latest bank to plan for Brexit by moving €32bn

UBS has received approval from a London court to move up to €32bn in assets from Britain to Germany as part of plans to keep business in the EU after Brexit.

UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, received approval from Judge Alastair Norris to transfer operations from UBS Limited, its London-based subsidiary primarily handling investment banking activities, to Frankfurt-domiciled UBS Europe on March 1.

A UBS spokeswoman confirmed the court’s decision.

The Swiss banking group is the latest financial institution to disclose a material transfer of its business away from London ahead of Brexit on March 29.

British bank Barclays was last month granted permission to transfer €190bn in assets to its Dublin-based subsidiary so it could continue to serve EU clients in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

It had secured the approval last year from the Central Bank to expand its operations in Ireland.

UBS’s plans could be deferred until July 24 at the latest if the bank “receives sufficient comfort before then that suitable transition arrangements have been agreed by the UK and the EU”, according to court filings.

Last year, UBS had said in its annual report that it would merge its British entity with the German-headquartered European bank in the absence of a transition deal between the EU and Britain prior to the March 29 departure date.

The bank also said it would look to move fewer than 200 of its roughly 5,000 London-based staff from Britain as part of its Brexit preparations, to Frankfurt and other locations.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has already started its operations by relocating staff to Dublin as part of its own Brexit contingency plans.