Goldman Sachs will maintain its London operations

Goldman Sachs has refuted claims that it plans to immediately move staff to Frankfurt from London following the result of the EU referendum. The bank has not bought any additional real estate in Frankfurt and has assured employees that there will be no immediate change to where or how it conducts its business.

Goldman Sachs not eyeing up Frankfurt post-Brexit vote

Banking giant Goldman Sachs has today refuted claims that the wheels are in motion to move staff to Frankfurt, following the UK's decision last week to leave the EU.

There has been a significant amount of speculation recently that Brexit could result in an exodus of bankers from London, with big names moving chunks of their operations overseas in a bid to secure access to the single market.

However, a Goldman Sachs spokesperson today denied that the firm had been shopping for more office space in Frankfurt, saying:

We have not made any changes to our real estate requirements in Frankfurt as a result of the referendum result. As we have already communicated to our employees, there is no immediate change to the way we conduct our business or where we conduct our business.

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Goldman Sachs already has a presence in Frankfurt, having set up an office in the German city in 1990.

This latest development echoes the sentiment of a statement put out by the bank's chief executive and chairman Lloyd Blankfein on the day of the referendum result, which read:

We respect the decision of the British electorate and have been focused on planning for either referendum outcome for many months. Goldman Sachs has a long history of adapting to change, and we will work with relevant authorities as the terms of the exit become clear. Our primary focus, as always, remains serving our clients’ needs.

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There has been some concern that, if the UK cannot secure passporting rights as part of its negotiations to leave the EU, many firms will have to rethink their business structure and a number of jobs could be moved to other financial capitals, such as Frankfurt, Paris and Dublin.

Passporting currently allows firms established in the UK to do business in the other member states of the European Economic Area.