HSBC May Move 1,000 Jobs To Paris If UK Votes To Leave EU

After deciding Sunday night to keep its headquarters in London — instead of moving it to Hong Kong — HSBC said it will move 1,000 jobs to Paris if Britain left the European Union.

Referring to the U.K's in-out referendum, which could be held in June this year, Douglas Flint, chairman of the global banking giant, reportedly told the BBC that the “best answer” was for Britain to remain in the EU. He added that in case Britain decided to part ways, the move would have little impact on the “holding company” but will affect the operational activities of wholesale bank, the Guardian reported.

However, the bank could move its markets business out of Britain if the country voted to leave the EU, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Speaking to Sky News, Stuart Gulliver, the chief executive of HSBC, said: “We have 5,000 people in global banking and markets [HSBC’s investment bank] in London and I could imagine that around 20% of those would move to Paris,” according to the Guardian.

Even under such a scenario, the bank would remain headquartered in London, Gulliver said, adding that he would carry on as CEO till at least the end of 2017, the Journal reported.

The bank’s shares were trading higher by about 0.9 percent on the London Stock Exchange while the broader market was up by more than 2 percent.