Sony Corp is to shift its European headquarters from Britain to the Netherlands to avoid Brexit-related customs issues, but operations at its UK company is to remain unchanged, a company spokesman said yesterday.
“We are moving the location of our European headquarters’ registration to the Netherlands” by the end of March, company spokesman Takashi Iida said.
The relocation is aimed at avoiding cumbersome customs-related procedures after Britain leaves the EU, he said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The Japanese electronics giant late last year registered a new company in the Netherlands and plans to integrate its existing European headquarters in Britain into the new company.
The move would make the firm “a company based in the EU,” so the bloc’s common customs procedures would apply to Sony’s European operations after Britain relinquishes membership, Iida said.
However, Sony will not move personnel and operations from the UK company to the Netherlands, and “the only change we will make is the change of registered location of the company,” he added.
Rival Panasonic Corp last year moved its European headquarters from Britain to the Netherlands over concerns about potential Brexit-related tax issues.
Several other Japanese firms, including megabank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, Nomura Holdings Inc, Daiwa Securities Group Inc and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc, have said they are planning to move their main EU bases out of London.
The British parliament last week rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s withdrawal deal last week, leaving the UK on course to exit the EU on March 29 with no deal.
May has promised to try once again to amend the agreement, but critics say she would not succeed — and that parliament must now take control.
Japanese businesses have asked for a soft Brexit with a deal including special measures in the transitional period to mitigate the impact of the UK’s exit from the union.
They also hope that Britain and the EU “will establish an economic relationship that is as close as possible” after Brexit, the Japan Business Federation wrote last year.
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