Brexit: Big banks preparing to move overseas, warns BBA boss

Big banks are poised to move out of the UK over fears around the impact of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, according to reports.

Anthony Browne, boss of the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), has said that smaller banks might also relocate overseas as early as next year.

Writing in The Observer over the weekend, he said: “Their hands are quivering over the relocate button.”

In June, the majority of banks called for the UK to remain part of the EU.

Mr Browne also believes the current “public and political debate” is “taking us in the wrong direction”.

His comments in The Observer build on those he made last week at the BBA’s annual conference, where he said banks have already set up project teams to establish “what operations they need to move by when, and how best to do it”.

He wrote: “Banking is probably more affected by Brexit than any other sector of the economy, both in the degree of impact and the scale of the implications.

“It is the UK’s biggest export industry by far and is more internationally mobile than most.”

“But it also gets its rules and legal rights to serve its customers cross-border from the EU.”