More than 7,500 UK financial services roles have been relocated to Europe as firms make final Brexit preparations, according to a survey.
EY’s Brexit tracker said more than 400 of the job switches have been announced in recent weeks, ahead of the transition period for leaving the EU coming to an end on 31 December.
The survey, tracking announcements made since the referendum, also found firms are transferring assets totalling more than £1.2trn from the UK to the European Union.
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Meanwhile, firms have been hiring for 2,850 new roles in Europe since the vote in 2016, EY said.
Financial companies including banks, insurers and asset managers have been opening new hubs or expanding existing sites in Europe as they prepare for the end of transition arrangements.
Brussels has said it will only offer selective access for the City of London’s financial services under its “equivalence” system, an arrangement under which Britain’s finance regulations must be equivalent to the EU’s.
The jobs and assets migrating to Europe from the UK remains a fraction of the overall UK financial sector.
But Omar Ali, UK financial services managing partner at EY, said there could be a “flurry of further staff and operational announcements” in coming weeks.
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He added: “The clock is running down, and with the possibility of a second COVID-19 spike threatening cross-border movement in the final three months of the transition period, firms must now ensure that as a minimum they will be operational and can serve clients on the 1 January 2021.”
Dublin remains the most popular destination for new hubs, followed by Luxembourg, Frankfurt and Paris, EY said.