Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) has signalled its commitment to London at a time of heightened Brexit uncertainty, agreeing a deal with Land Securities Group plc (LON:LAND) to move its UK headquarters.
The German lender will relocate its headquarters to a building being constructed at 21 Moorfields in London’s financial district, Land Securities confirmed today.
It will lease at least 469,000 square feet of the 564,000 square foot building for 25 years if planning approval is secured.
The announcement confirmed details of a pre-let agreement first reported in March.
READ: Deutsche Bank signals confidence in post-Brexit Britain by securing new London headquarters
Deutsche Bank’s plans to keep London as it base were seen as a vote of confidence in the City despite worries over the possible impact of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.
However, the company has said that it may need to move thousands of jobs out of London after Brexit and shift a big chunk of its securities trading business to Frankfurt.
Land Securities said the deal was conditional on planning permission.
Britain could lose up to 40,000 investment banking jobs, report reveals
The news came as a report by consultancy firm Oliver Wyman said Britain's finance industry could lose up to 40,000 investment banking jobs in the next few years unless it achieves a softer Brexit.
Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Barclays and Bank of America have all made plans to set up subsidiaries in the EU after the government confirmed the UK will lose access to the bloc's single market after Brexit.
"The banks are working on ‘no regrets’ moves, which increase options but don’t cost that much either to undertake or to reverse," Matt Austen, UK head of financial services at Oliver Wyman, said.
UK headed towards Brexit disaster, Hague warns
Meanwhile, former Conservative Party leader William Hague warned that Britain was heading towards a Brexit disaster with risks of a sharp economic slowdown or the possible stalling of negotiations with the EU. He said Chancellor
"There is the clear potential for Brexit to become the occasion of the greatest economic, diplomatic and constitutional muddle in the modern history of the UK, with unknowable consequences for the country, the government and the Brexit project itself," Hague, who campaigned to stay in the EU, wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
Hague welcomed Chancellor Philip Hammond’s efforts to seek a less abrupt exit from the EU, saying it would rescue Brexit from an approaching disaster.