Thomson Reuters decides to move forex trading to Dublin

DUBLIN, Ireland - In an announcement that came as a loss for London, Thomson Reuters said that it would transfer its forex trading to Dublin ahead of Britain’s departure from the EU next year.

The move includes the company’s transfer of its widely used foreign exchange derivatives trading business, which trades more than $300 billion a day in London, to the Irish capital. 

Over the past year, major electronic bond and forex trading platforms have announced plans to shift their trading businesses out of London ahead of Brexit in March 2019.

Meanwhile, experts pointed out that unlike Thomson Reuters, most of its rivals have opted for Amsterdam as their post-Brexit EU hub.

Thomson Reuters said on Tuesday that it has applied to the Central Bank to move its foreign exchange Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) to Dublin so that it can continue to sell into the EU's single market.

The company said that it intends to transfer all "existing client relationships of the Thomson Reuters MTF and Dealing, as well as Fixed Income Callouts and Auctions, from RTSL to our new Irish legal entity ahead of the Brexit date." 

The company's co-head of trading, Neill Penney said in a statement that there were no plans to move staff from London but that some new personnel would be hired in Dublin. 

Penney added that Thomson Reuters had opted for Dublin over Amsterdam because it was the most cost-effective, would "minimise disruption for clients" and because Dublin's growing role as a centre for financial technology and research would "open a number of doors" should the company want to expand.

He said, "It doesn't matter for our customers which European city we are in. From a technology front, the technology is remaining where it is, which is in London and New York.”

The company said that all spot forex trading, where its volumes top $100 billion a day, would remain in London, and so would its post-trade services.