Goldman Sachs will move jobs out of London before Brexit deal struck

Goldman Sachs will begin moving hundreds of people out of London before any Brexit deal is struck, the banking giant's European boss has said.

The remarks from Richard Gnodde, chief executive of Goldman Sachs International, come as Theresa May prepares to trigger Article 50 for leaving the European Union next week.

Banks have been working on their response to the vote for several months after warnings before the June referendum that such an outcome would result in jobs moving.

Mr Gnodde told CNBC: "We are going to start to execute on those contingency plans."

"For this first period, this is really the period as we put in place contingency plans, this is in the hundreds of people as opposed to anything greater than that."

However he added that London would remain a "very significant global hub".

The bulk of the Wall Street firm's European operations are in Britain, where it has around 6,000 employees providing services across Europe.

:: EU leaders to hold first Brexit summit on 29 April

Financial firms rely on "passporting" rights to sell their services across the continent but these look likely to go after the Prime Minister said the UK would leave the single market.

Mr Gnodde said the big question was whether the Britain and the EU would agree on transitional arrangements as they try to hammer out a Brexit deal.

He said: "We can't bank on them so we have to have contingency plans and that's what we're going to start to execute on."

Mr Gnodde said Goldman would initially start hiring staff in Europe and moving people out of London, as well as investing in infrastructure and technology over the next 18 months.

He did not say which locations would benefit but mentioned that Goldman had banking licences in France and Germany and offices in several European cities.

Mr Gnodde added: "What our eventual footprint will look like depends on the outcome of negotiations and what we're obliged to do because of them.

"Whatever the scenario, whatever the outcome, London will remain for us a very significant regional hub and a very significant global hub."

The remarks come after London mayor Sadiq Khan warned that banks could start making plans to move out of the UK as soon as Article 50 is triggered - if there is no reassurance that there will be a transitional deal.

HSBC and UBS have warned that they could each transfer 1,000 jobs from London.