Brexit: Deutsche Bank moves half of euro clearing business from London to Frankfurt

London has been regarded as a leader in the clearing market but European rivals now encroaching

Deutsche Bank has moved almost half of its euro clearing business from London to Frankfurt because of Brexit.

Euro clearing is the system through which euro-based financial transactions are settled, and London is known as a leader in the clearing business. Clearing house LCH, owned by the London Stock Exchange, previously dominated the market, processing almost £900bn in deals per day.

However, since the Brexit vote, European rivals, including Deutsche Boerse-owned Eurex, have been making moves to steal London’s crown. Bruno Le Maire, France’s finance minister, said last year that Brexit could be an opportunity for eurozone states to take control of clearing and a 2016 report by consultancy firm EY suggested that a departure of euro clearing could cost 83,000 jobs in the City.

Deutsche’s decision to relocate clearing activities has not had an impact on UK jobs. Effectively, the move means the bank will push a different button to route the clearing to Eurex.

A spokeswoman for Eurex said that it now has a market share of 8 per cent of euro clearing, up from virtually zero a year ago.

The group said in 2017 that it was committed to the UK, as it signed the lease on a new London headquarters, taking on space at new City site 21 Moorfields for 25 years.

However, the lender said earlier this year that it planned to cut more than 7,000 roles in an effort to reduce costs, putting City jobs at risk. The bank employs 8,000 people in London.

The job cuts followed the ousting of John Cryan as CEO in April, which came after three years of losses at the bank. Mr Cryan was replaced by Christian Sewing, who said Deutsche needed to focus on what it does best, with the result that the total number of staff at the group would fall from 97,000 to “well below” 90,000.

Additional reporting by newswires