JPMorgan buys second Paris office to relocate teams following Brexit
JPMorgan Chase has bought a second building in the heart of Paris capable of holding 450 people, as it plans to relocate some services and teams from London after Brexit.
The bank will initially transfer sales teams, followed by trading staff depending on the timing of Britain's full withdrawal from the European Union, Kyril Courboin, the bank's managing director in France., told Reuters.
"After multiple government reforms and given the intrinsic nature of Parisian infrastructure, this is the ideal time to invest here and for more of our staff to settle here," said Courboin.
This is the ideal time to invest here and for more of our staff to settle here"
The purchase of the seven-storey, 6,600 square-metre property in the first arrondissement could see the French capital becoming its second-largest European base behind London.
"London will still be number one", and would continue to be the regional hub for trading activities not denominated in euros, he said. JPMorgan has about 10,000 people based in London and 260 employees in Paris, with the new building in the French capital creating capacity for an extra 450. It also has roughly 500 people in Frankfurt and 450 in Luxembourg.
The move "will give the bank the opportunity to pursue growth in France, in line with its strategy to continue to serve its European clients seamlessly from the continent's major cities, including Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Dublin," the statement added.
An acceleration in the Brexit process, with Britain now due to leave the EU on Jan. 31 and negotiate a new relationship with the bloc during the rest of 2020, had prompted JPMorgan to go ahead with relocation plans, Courboin said.
The French capital has already benefited from the relocation of 4,000 employees, Paris Europlace -- an organisation that promotes Paris's financial sector -- said at the beginning of January.
Bank of America opened a new French subsidiary in February 2019 that employs 400 people, most of whom were previously based in London.
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