HSBC and Goldman Sachs – two major global banks that had publicly threatened to move some operations out of the UK in the event of a Brexit vote – have this morning declined to reiterate such plans.

The omission could be seized upon by the Leave camp as a sign that the firms – and other corporations – were bluffing about jobs losses in order to support the Remain vote in the run-up to the poll. Stuart Gulliver, HSBC’s chief executive, told Sky News in February that Brexit could see 20 per cent of its 5,000 London investment bankers moved out of London to Paris.

Goldman Sachs also issued several warnings that it would be likely to move some staff out of the City if the UK voted to quit the 28-member bloc. But this morning Douglas Flint, HSBC’s chair, emphasised the bank’s “commitment to British businesses, customers and staff,” adding that it “remains undiminished” despite the vote.

Asked about the February comments from Mr Gulliver, a source at HSBC said there was no clarity on the UK’s future trade relations with Europe. “We don’t know what’s happening,” the source said.

Mark Carney addresses EU referendum result

Goldman Sachs also struck an emollient tone. “We respect the decision of the British electorate and have been focused on planning for either referendum outcome for many months,” said the Wall Street bank’s US-based chair and chief executive Lloyd Blankfein.

“Goldman Sachs has a long history of adapting to change, and we will work with relevant authorities as the terms of the exit become clear. Our primary focus, as always, remains serving our clients’ needs.” A source at the bank said that there would be no “immediate change” in its staffing and that any future moves would “depend on the terms of [the UK’s] exit”.

A central benefit for overseas banks that have subsidiaries in the City of London is that these firms have access to the EU market through a “passport”. There have been warnings that this passport would be scrapped if the UK left the EU, giving foreign banks an incentive to move their European headquarters from London to mainland Europe.

6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Show all 6 1 /6 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you More expensive foreign holidays The first practical effect of a vote to Leave is that the pound will be worth less abroad, meaning foreign holidays will cost us more nito100 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you No immediate change in immigration status The Prime Minister will have to address other immediate concerns. He is likely to reassure nationals of other EU countries living in the UK that their status is unchanged. That is what the Leave campaign has said, so, even after the Brexit negotiations are complete, those who are already in the UK would be allowed to stay Getty 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Higher inflation A lower pound means that imports would become more expensive. This is likely to mean the return of inflation – a phenomenon with which many of us are unfamiliar because prices have been stable for so long, rising at no more than about 2 per cent a year. The effect may probably not be particularly noticeable in the first few months. At first price rises would be confined to imported goods – food and clothes being the most obvious – but inflation has a tendency to spread and to gain its own momentum AFP/Getty Images 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Interest rates might rise The trouble with inflation is that the Bank of England has a legal obligation to keep it as close to 2 per cent a year as possible. If a fall in the pound threatens to push prices up faster than this, the Bank will raise interest rates. This acts against inflation in three ways. First, it makes the pound more attractive, because deposits in pounds will earn higher interest. Second, it reduces demand by putting up the cost of borrowing, and especially by taking larger mortgage payments out of the economy. Third, it makes it more expensive for businesses to borrow to expand output Getty 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Did somebody say recession? Mr Carney, the Treasury and a range of international economists have warned about this. Many Leave voters appear not to have believed them, or to think that they are exaggerating small, long-term effects. But there is no doubt that the Leave vote is a negative shock to the economy. This is because it changes expectations about the economy’s future performance. Even though Britain is not actually be leaving the EU for at least two years, companies and investors will start to move money out of Britain, or to scale back plans for expansion, because they are less confident about what would happen after 2018 AFP/Getty Images 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you And we wouldn’t even get our money back All this will be happening while the Prime Minister, whoever he or she is, is negotiating the terms of our future access to the EU single market. In the meantime, our trade with the EU would be unaffected, except that companies elsewhere in the EU may be less interested in buying from us or selling to us, expecting tariff barriers to go up in two years’ time. Whoever the Chancellor is, he or she may feel the need to bring in a new Budget Getty Images

Another US bank that said UK-based jobs could go in the event of a Brexit vote was JP Morgan, which has more than 16,000 UK employees. “It is my opinion that it is a terrible deal for the British economy and jobs,” said JP Morgan’s boss Jamie Dimon earlier this month. “I don’t know if that means a thousand jobs, 2,000 jobs [could go], it could be as many as 4,000, and it would be both jobs all around the UK.” JP Morgan could not immediately be reached for comment on the UK referendum result and the bank’s likely response.

The Japanese carmaker Nissan, which has 8,000 staff across the UK and a large plant in Sunderland, had cautioned that Brexit could imperil future investment. “Each future investment opportunity will be taken on a case by case basis, just as it is now,” said its chief executive Carlos Ghosn in February. Nissan did not comment today when contacted by The Independent.