Great Britain is currently in a transition phase after leaving the EU. The future relations with the European Union, including free trade agreements, are to be negotiated by the end of the year. Many experts consider this unrealistic because both sides are still far apart in their positions. Most recently, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson had also launched a controversial internal market law that would partially nullify the current Brexit deal with the EU.
Therefore, less than four months before the end of the transition period, international banks are stepping up their business activities in the European Union to ensure that they can continue to serve their European customers. With Brexit, banks in London will lose their rights to do business anywhere in the EU without special licenses. JPMorgan's boss, Jamie Dimon, had already announced in early 2019 that he would be relocating several hundred jobs from London to the continent.
In light of the UK's recent advances, the bank announced last week to around 200 employees in London that they would be moving to continental European cities like Paris, Frankfurt, Milan and Madrid, Bloomberg reported. In Paris, for example, she bought a new building with space for 450 employees. Around 260 employees of the bank are currently working there. The purchase fits in with the "strategy" of continuing to serve European customers "without interruption" from major European cities, according to JPMorgan.