Barclays Plc CEO Jes Staley said that most of the bank's European business should continue to be able to operate from the U.K., which will remain "the financial lungs for Europe" post-Brexit, BBC News reported Jan. 19.

In an interview with BBC, Staley said that the bank might move some activities to Dublin or Germany, but the City of London is likely to remain the financial center of Europe. Staley said changing its legal structure, for example, by opening a German branch of its Dublin operations, would satisfy European and U.K. regulators.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's announcement that the U.K. plans to quit the European Union's single market by March 2019 will pile pressure on multinational banks to accelerate planning for the future of their U.K. operations, according to European lobby groups courting the business of London-based banks.

HSBC Holdings Plc, UBS Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are set to relocate thousands of jobs from London.