More than 440 banking and financial organisations have moved or are moving part of their business, staff, assets, or legal entities from the UK to the EU following Brexit.

Research from think tank New Financial found that over £900 billion in bank assets, around 10 per cent of the entire UK banking system, have either been or are being moved.

The organisation said that its analysis represents a “significant underestimate” of the real picture. It warned that many firms will have slipped below its radar, particularly banks and asset managers already headquartered in the EU.

New Financial predicts that as the EU takes a tougher line on the location of activity and individuals, the number of firms leaving the UK along with their bank assets will increase in future.

However, the research institute did say that there is some good news in that the extent of this relocation activity means that most firms in the UK that need continued access to clients and markets in the EU now have it.

The CityUnited Project, formed in February by Eurosceptic MPs and city figures, told CityAM that Brexit was always going to create change in the dispersal of financial services.

“However this movement has been overwhelmingly in the UK’s favour,” claimed Tom Bohills, co-chairman of the CityUnited Project. “Almost 1,500 EU-based financial services firms have applied for permission to operate in the UK.”

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