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Technology

Posted on June 27, 2016 by staff

TransferWise may move HQ abroad after Brexit

Technology

TransferWise could move its London headquarters to the continent after Britain voted to Brexit.

The foreign exchange service is among several major firms putting expansion plans on hold in the UK following the outcome of Thursday鈥檚 EU referendum.

Its chief executive and co-founder Taavet Hinrikus said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 unlikely we will close our London office.

鈥淏ut we will probably not grow the team based here much more.

鈥淗eadquartering elsewhere is a possibility but we haven鈥檛 made a final decision yet.鈥

The tech sector was extremely supportive of remaining in the EU, according to polls in the run-up to the vote, while hundreds of tech start-ups and entrepreneurs signed an open letter opposing Brexit in April.

Concerns include loss of access to qualified workers from overseas to counteract the skills gap and a loss of access to the Digital Single Market.

鈥淭his is likely to affect regulation and the movement of talent, two massive issues for business,鈥 added Hinrikus.

鈥淭he two main benefits of being part of the EU are access to talent because of the free movement of labour and the fact that you can 鈥榩assport鈥 regulation so if you鈥檙e regulated in the UK, you鈥檙e regulated across the EU.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen with either of those.鈥

There are fears that the Fintech sector in particular will be hit hard as access to European markets is lost despite London鈥檚 previous status as the financial capital of Europe.

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