Bank of America becomes latest high-profile financial firm to decide on shifting jobs to Dublin post-Brexit

DUBLIN, Ireland - At a time when the U.K. is trying to clinch a transitional deal before it leaves the 28-nation block in 2019 - it has lost another high-profile financial firm.

Bank of America announced that it would be moving its roles from the City of London to Dublin in light of Brexit. 

The American bank, that currently employs 6,500 people in the U.K. and already has 700 staff in the Irish capital, where it has engaged with the local community for almost 50 years now.

It is now looking at relocating more employees to Dublin as Brexit approaches.

Brian Moynihan, chief executive of Bank of America who travelled to Dublin for the landmark announcement, met Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and declared his decision after the meeting.

Moynihan said in a statement, “We will move roles not only to Dublin but to other EU locations... While we await further clarity around the Brexit negotiations, we are making all necessary preparations to serve our clients however those discussions conclude.”

Welcoming the announcement, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that Bank of America has a long-standing commitment to Ireland.

He said, “This announcement follows a number of recent announcements by leading global financial institutions and is a strong endorsement of Ireland’s attractiveness as a location for investment, and of the Government’s approach to securing Brexit-related activities. Bank of America also has a long tradition of philanthropy in Ireland, and I was delighted to learn of its plans for further investment in the Music Generation scheme to support music education in Irish schools."

Further, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, Frances Fitzgerald TD said that this is another vote of confidence in Ireland and its expanding international financial services sector. It shows that our track record, pro-business environment, highly skilled talented workforce and an unwavering commitment to the European single market continues to appeal to investors.”

The new Taoiseach, Varadkar, who is keen to capitalise on the fallout from the City after the vote for Brexit, has met a number of bank bosses this month.

He has already held meetings with Jes Staley of Barclays and Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase.

JP Morgan Chase has bought a new office in Dublin’s docklands area that can house up to 1,000 employees.

While Bank of America has not confirmed how many of its U.K.-based staff members would be affected by the decision to use Dublin for its EU legal entities - its decision comes merely days after hundreds of financial firms had to submit their plans to cope with a ‘hard Brexit’ to the Bank of England. 

Last week, several firms based in London publicised their intentions, including U.S. banks Morgan Stanley and Citi, as well as Deutsche Bank of Germany.