TP ICAP loses full EU rights as pandemic disrupts move to French office
British broker TP ICAP has revealed that it cannot currently serve some European Union clients because Covid-19 has delayed completion of its new Brexit hub in Paris.
TP ICAP said that regulators would allow it to continue serving customers from London while it finished preparations in France after the UK’s EU departure concluded.
The EU refused to grant British financial firms direct access to the bloc from 2021, meaning they would need branches in the EU to continue serving clients there.
On 4 January, trading worth €6bn in daily shares moved from London to newly created EU hubs.
TP ICAP said: “Due partly to the extraordinary circumstances relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has not yet been possible to complete the relocation of staff to the EU 27 or the local hiring of brokers in the EU-based offices of TPIE as quickly as originally planned.”
The broker said it would complete staff relocation at the earliest opportunity but gave no set date.
It vowed to continue providing some services to EU clients where possible, based on temporary permission regimes and existing access rights.
TP ICAP said it did not expect a large financial impact from a reduction of services.