Deutsche Bank AG is in exclusive talks to move its UK headquarters to a building being constructed at 21 Moorfields in the City of London financial district.
Germany’s biggest bank is negotiating with Land Securities Group PLC on a 25-year lease for the building, with staff due to start moving across in 2023, according to a memo sent to the lender’s staff and seen by Bloomberg News.
The developer yesterday confirmed that it was in talks with Deutsche Bank over an advance rental that would require changes to the building’s design.
Photo: Reuters
Corporate demand for office space in London has fallen in the wake of the Brexit vote, with BNP Paribas SA estimating that firms leased 19 percent less space in central London last year than a year earlier.
Deutsche Bank, which is in the process of overhauling its businesses, this month said that the next phase of its plan would cause additional job losses.
“The move underlines the bank’s commitment to the City of London and the importance it attaches to being an employer of choice in the capital,” Deutsche Bank’s UK chief executive officer Garth Ritchie said in the memo. “It will advance the bank’s strategic goals of increasing efficiency, reducing complexity and strengthening links between the business divisions and infrastructure functions.”
Deutsche Bank’s move is subject to the lease being agreed to and the building gaining planning consent, according to the memo.
Land Securities said negotiations would take several months and there is no guarantee they would lead to a transaction.
Meanwhile, Citigroup Inc plans to close three of its four London branches, as the company seeks to cut costs and focus on digital services.
The US bank has written to clients about plans to shutter outlets in the City of London, Mayfair and Canary Wharf districts in the next two months, correspondence seen by Bloomberg News shows.
The lender will continue to operate the Citigold and Citigold Private Client Center at its European headquarters in Canary Wharf.
“Wealth management client centers best suit our client base and their increasing preference for digital channels” in London, Citigroup spokeswoman Belinda Marks said in an e-mail. “As a result, we will close three branches with formats and locations that do not fit our market strategy.”
The company may open other wealth-management centers in due course, according to the e-mail.
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