JPMorgan Chase has agreed to buy a Dublin building with room for 1,000 staff in the first sign of a financial services firm expanding significantly in Ireland since the government began a major campaign to attract firms in the wake of Brexit.
Dublin, Frankfurt, Paris and Luxembourg are widely seen as the locations most likely to benefit as firms based in London move some staff to European Union locations after Britain leaves the bloc.
The U.S. investment bank, which currently employs around 500 people in Dublin, did not say how many jobs would be created or whether any positions would be moved from the United Kingdom.
JPMorgan (JPM) will acquire a 130,000 square foot (12,000 square meter) building at the Capital Dock development in Dublin’s docklands, real estate investment company Kennedy Wilson , which is developing the building, said in a statement.
“This new building gives us room to grow and some flexibility within the European Union,” senior country officer for J.P. Morgan in Ireland Carin Bryans said.
Ireland has engaged on a major lobbying campaign during the past year to try to convince firms with large bases in the United Kingdom to consider moving some of their staff to Ireland to maintain access to the European Union’s single market.
The head of a similar campaign by Frankfurt earlier this month told Reuters that he expected the five largest U.S. investment banks to move staff to more than one EU location with around 1,000 going to Frankfurt and possibly more to Dublin.
The race has been acrimonious at times with Ireland complaining to the European Commission that it is being undercut by predatory behavior by rival centers.