Brexit: Banks to move €1.3trn assets to eurozone –ECB

A European Central Bank official has revealed that about 1.3 trillion euros ($1.44 trillion) worth of assets will be moved from London to the eurozone due to Brexit, according to document.

Twenty-four banks will move, seven of which will be directly under ECB supervision, and 17 will be under national supervision where they chose to relocate to, said Andrea Enria, chair of the ECB’s supervisory board, said.

Enria said the banks were prepared.

“We have done the best preparation we could, the banks did what we asked them to do and a contingency plan is in place,’’ he said.

However, he also noted that Brexit is an event “which can always be accompanied by shocks and turbulence in financial markets,’’ and is “giving us a bit of a headache’’.

The deadline for the United Kingdom’s official departure from the EU has been extended to Oct. 31.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced on Wednesday that he had asked the Queen to suspend the current parliamentary session from the middle of September, fuelling concerns over a no-deal Brexit.

Similarly, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has approved Johnson’s request to temporarily suspend parliament from mid-September to mid-October, ahead of the country’s pending exit from the EU.

The monarch’s formal body of advisers, the Privy Council, said in a statement that the suspension would take place “no earlier than Sept. 9 and no later than Sept. 12 to Oct. 14, 2019’’.

Johnson requested the suspension earlier on Wednesday in what opposition leaders say is an intentional attempt to hamper efforts by lawmakers to block a no-deal Brexit.