BofA To Transfer 125 Jobs Pre-Brexit To Ireland From Britain

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) is planning to relocate around 125 jobs from Britain, pre-Brexit. Per a corporate filing, mostly jobs will be relocated to Ireland. The news was reported by Reuters.

The main reason for the move is the U.K.’s exit from the EU, which led to the cancellation of “Passporting Rights.” The rights allowed banks to provide services to other member countries of the EU from London.

Per the source, staffs allocated to finance, risk, compliance, technology and credit functions departments will be transferred between July and December 2018. Moreover, new recruits will also be entertained in Ireland. Further, based on conclusion of the Brexit issues, the bank will take up the second phase of relocation, mainly to France, with some moves to Ireland, Germany and other locations.

In July 2017, BofA chose Dublin as the new location for its EU operations to continue to serve clients, post-Brexit, after March 2019. Notably, the banking giant will be merging its London-based subsidiary — Bank of America Merrill Lynch International — into a Dublin-based Irish entity.

BofA prefers Dublin as it follows similar laws and regulations, and stands as the only other English speaking center in the EU, attracting London-based banks for post-Brexit operations.

Notably, BofA already operates a fully-licensed operation in Dublin. Moreover, the bank will continue to retain its significant presence in London.

BofA’s efforts to realign its balance sheet, focus on core operations and prudent cost management will likely support bottom-line growth.

BofA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Shares of the bank gained 5.2% over the last six months, outperforming slight growth recorded by the industry.

Other banks on the verge of relocation include HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) plc (NYSE:HSBC) , UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) .

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