Workers in the Square Mile are bracing for months of pain as banks and financial institutions begin the process of considering whether to slash jobs or relocate to Europe in the wake of Brexit.

JP Morgan, HSBC and Goldman Sachs all said prior to the vote that thousands of jobs in the City of London could be moved to the continent in the event of Brexit.

Sarah Phillips, partner at solicitors Irwin Mitchell, said the Brexit vote will have a “big impact” on people working in Britain’s financial services sector.

She added: “Many banks, insurers and fund managers who have large businesses in continental Europe could consider relocating to Paris or Frankfurt and senior staff will either lose their roles or have to move to another country.

“Some global investment banks, such as JPMorgan, have said that Brexit would lead to a significant loss of jobs in the UK.”

HSBC boss Stuart Gulliver said in February that a vote to leave could see 5,000 London-based investment bankers move out of London to Paris. Jamie Dimon, head of JP Morgan, said earlier this month that up to 4,000 jobs could be hit.

Although banks have been cautious on Friday in making any brash statements regarding their future plans, experts are forecasting that large scale redundancies could be on the cards.

Nick Elwell-Sutton, partner at Clyde & Co, said: “At a more fundamental level, unless the financial services passporting rules are resolved in the UK’s favour, then many large financial services businesses are likely to relocate to within the EU - meaning large scale redundancies would be highly probable.”

Goldman Sachs boss Lloyd Blankfein has said the bank respects the decision of the British electorate, while HSBC chairman Douglas Flint said that “we are today entering a new era for Britain and British business”.

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