JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a second office building in Paris as it accelerates preparations for the imminent departure of the U.K. from the European Union, the Financial Times reported.

The new seven-story building can house up to 450 employees, according to the Jan. 20 report. The U.S. lender plans to initially transfer sales employees to be followed by traders, Kyril Courboin, the bank's head of France, said.

In Paris, the bank already has 260 staff. The new base adds to a building the bank had previously acquired, paving the way for the French capital to be the bank's second-largest European site behind London, the FT noted. In the British capital, JPMorgan employs about 10,000 people, while in Frankfurt it has about 500 staff.