Citigroup has chosen Frankfurt as its newest trading hub in the European Union.
The proposal will be presented to its board of directors this week for approval, according to a person with knowledge of the decision.
Bloomberg are reporting that the choice to expand the bank’s existing broker-dealer in the German city means it will create between 150 and 250 new roles there, said the person, who asked not to be identified talking about internal policies. It’s yet to be decided if the jobs will be filled by moving existing employees or by hiring locally, and it’s likely to be some combination, the person said.
The location, where Citigroup already has about 350 employees, is expected to handle some of the trading activities currently done in London, though the U.K. capital will remain the headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the person said. Sky News reported the decision on Monday.
Frankfurt has emerged as a winner of the Brexit vote, with Standard Chartered Plc, Nomura Holdings Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and Daiwa Securities Group Inc. picking the city as their EU hub in recent weeks. Deutsche Bank AG is preparing to move large parts of the trading and investment-banking assets it currently books in London to its hometown of Frankfurt, people familiar with the matter said this month.
Citigroup has been considering the move for months. The firm was evaluating locations in Ireland, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, Jim Cowles, the bank’s top executive for the region, said at a Dublin conference in January.
