Baroness Shriti Vadera, Chair of the Financial Services Chairmen’s Advisory Committee will be quizzed by Asia House members on the future options for city based banks at a breakfast briefing Wednesday.

The briefing follows several recent media stories, including Bloomberg and Reuters, reporting that foreign banks with city of London headquarters are evaluating the potential relocation of operations to Europe in the event of a hard Brexit scenario.

The consequences of major banks relocating would undermine London’s status as a global financial centre. Central to the discussion are so called ‘financial passporting’ rights, allowing banks to trade with EU states, which are under threat should the UK fail to strike a deal with the EU single market.

European think tank Bruegel forecasts that London could lose up to 20,000 financial sector jobs as firms relocate to Europe. Frankfurt is frontrunning as a destination of choice for investment banks front offices, with the ECB and BaFin centered there. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, BAML, UBS and are all potential movers, according to reports in the Independent. Dublin is also expected to clean up large chunks of bank back office operations, with many banks already located in the Irish capital.

Theresa May will trigger Article 50 on 29 March, prompting ‘stay or go’ debates in bank boardrooms across the city.