(31 January 2019 – United Kingdom) The High Court has approved a transfer of €190 billion of assets by Barclays to its Irish subsidiary to prepare for the possibility of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.
The transfer, which has been planned since 2017, to Barclays Bank Ireland will affect about 5,000 clients and allow the bank to continue to service EU customers in the event that the UK and EU do not reach an agreement for March 29.
The bank can now transfer ownership of its branches in European cities such as Frankfurt, Paris and Milan from the UK to Barclays Bank Ireland.
Barclays said: “As we announced in 2017, Barclays will use our existing licensed EU-based bank subsidiary to continue to serve our clients within the EU beyond 29 March 2019, regardless of the outcome of Brexit.”
“Our preparations are well-advanced and we expect to be fully operational by 29 March,” it added.
Barclays joins a number of other banks moving business out of the UK ahead of the Brexit deadline. HSBC is moving assets to its French unit in Paris, while RBS has applied for a German banking license and Lloyds is setting up European subsidiaries in Berlin, Frankfurt and Luxembourg