Germany’s largest commercial bank Deutsche Bank AG (DB) can withdraw about 300 billion euros of assets from the balance of its British unit to Frankfurt because of the UK’s exit from the European Union (Brexit), Bloomberg reports with reference to informed sources.
According to Bloomberg, DB plans to report this to customers in September, the project was named Bowline. For Deutsche Bank, 300 billion euros – almost 20% of assets on the balance sheet, which amounted to 1.59 trillion euros at the end of 2016. In connection with Brexit, banks expect an outflow of customers and assets from London to the countries of continental Europe.
Deutsche Bank is going to begin transfer of assets in September 2018, and it expects to complete it in March 2019, Bloomberg sources state. A spokesperson for the bank’s press service, Monika Schaller, declined to comment on this information.
Last week, Head of Deutsche Bank John Kraan said that the bank is preparing for a “tough Brexit” – the UK’s exit from the European Union without a full-fledged trade agreement, and that most of the operations that the bank holds in London can be transferred to Frankfurt.