Lloyds Banking Group is proposing to establish a subsidiary in Germany or the Netherlands in the ultimate event of the UK leaving the EU without retaining access to its single market. According to news reports, the preferred city would be Amsterdam. Lloyds is the only British high street bank without a subsidiary in another EU country. It is now drawing up plans to ensure that it can maintain its relatively small number of German and Dutch retail clients and keep access to the European payment system. Several banks and financial services institutions have warned the UK government about their presence in the country following the Brexit vote. Several Japanese banks told the government they would begin shifting parts of their business from London within six months unless they had clarity on the UK’s relationship with the EU. Lloyds may convert one of the two EU branches it has in Frankfurt and Amsterdam into a subsidiary.
