LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays (L:BARC) is preparing to make Dublin its EU headquarters for when Britain leaves the European Union, according to a source familiar with the matter on Thursday.
Global banks and insurers have begun signaling how they will put plans into action to cope with a "hard" exit from the European Union, after Prime Minister Theresa May said that Britain would leave the single market.
Barclays already has a small unit in Dublin with around 100 people.
"We have made clear repeatedly that we will plan for a range of Brexit contingencies, including building greater capacity into our existing operations in Dublin," a spokesman for Barclays in London told Reuters.
"Identifying available office space is a necessary and predictable part of that contingency planning process."
Bloomberg News reported that Barclays would add around 150 staff to its operations in the Irish capital.