In an interview with the BBC, Barclays chief executive Jes Staley said access to overseas workers was “tremendously important” for the sector and could even trump the possibility that the UK’s financial services could lose the ‘passporting rights’ that currently enable them to trade freely throughout the European Union.Mr Staley’s comments coincided with a warning from Deutsche Bank’s chief regulatory officer Sylvie Matherat that some 4,000 of the bank’s 8,800 staff in the UK could be forced to relocate if passporting rights were lost.

Immigration could be biggest issue

However, the Barclays boss said immigration, rather than trading conditions, could be the biggest issue for the City of London, not least because the financial sector was becoming increasingly reliant on their ability to hire the best IT engineers from all over the world.“Making sure we have access to the best and brightest of talent around the world coming to London is perhaps the most important thing for the financial industry, perhaps even more important than passporting,” Mr Staley said.He said the strength of London banks and financial services lay in the fact the City had established itself as a global “intellectual capital”. He described Google’s decision to expand its presence in London as potentially “the most important economic announcement post-Brexit”.Even so, Mr Staley said that Barclays, which is planning to move at least 150 jobs to an EU subsidiary in Dublin, expected some banks to start shifting operations to the continent “reasonably” soon.Meanwhile, in comments at the Frankfurt Main Finance Conference, Ms Matherat suggested a wholesale move of Deutsche Bank back and front office positions, despite the fact that it entered exclusive negotiations only last month for a new HQ in London.

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Related news:

• Lloyds 'heading for Berlin' in post-Brexit move 
• Blue cards 'route into EU for Britons after Brexit'
• City policy chief dismisses fears of London exodus

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UK jobs at risk

“For front office people, if you want to deal with an EU client, you need to be based in the EU,” she said during a panel discussion. “Does it mean I have to move all the front office people to Germany or not? We're speaking of 2,000 people.”She added that 2,000 more London jobs involved in risk management could also face relocation.However, her remarks appeared to contradict comments made in March by Garth Ritchie, Deutsche Bank’s UK chief executive. He said the negotiations for a 25-year lease on new headquarters at 21 Moorfields in London “underlines the bank’s commitment to the City of London and the importance it attaches to being an employer of choice in the capital”.He added, “It will advance the bank’s strategic goals of increasing efficiency, reducing complexity and strengthening links between the business divisions and infrastructure functions.”And last year, immediately after the Brexit vote, the bank’s chief executive John Cryan said that, while he was disappointed by the outcome, he did not believe it foreshadowed any major changes at the bank.“We currently do not believe significant changes will be required to our current UK structure or business model in the short term as a result of the referendum. Along with the rest of the industry, we will monitor the UK’s negotiations with the EU closely,” he said. “If any changes are required, they will be carried out in a way that minimises any impact on clients and employees.”

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