(Bloomberg) -- Settlement giant Euroclear has completed the transfer of about 50 Irish securities previously settled in London to its Brussels unit in the latest Brexit-related shift.
The widely-trailed move represents around 100 billion euros ($119 billion) of assets and was carried out over the weekend, according to a Euroclear spokesman.
Ireland is the only European Union member without its own central securities depository and relies on Euroclear’s U.K.-based operation, called Crest, to settle trades. Euroclear spent two years planning the migration after the U.K.’s departure from Europe’s single market cut off financial passporting rights that allowed its previous structure.
Banks have been shifting people and assets from London to European capitals to preserve business, including almost all trading in EU equities. The bloc has been pushing firms to move more services into its market, although it has given some parts of the financial system such as London’s dominant clearinghouses temporary permission to serve EU clients.
Euroclear UK & Ireland told clients last year it would move Irish stocks that were settled in the U.K to Euroclear Bank in Brussels from March 15.
The Financial Times reported the news earlier.
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