The boss of Swiss bank UBS has said plans to move 1,000 jobs from London as a result of Brexit are now looking "more and more unlikely".

Chief executive Sergio Ermotti said the banking giant's fear of losing a fifth of its 5,000-strong UK workforce in the wake of the vote to leave was now unlikely to materialise following some "regulatory and political clarification about what we need to do".

The bank joined some of its rivals in predicting a mass exodus from the City earlier this year over concerns that a so-called hard Brexit in March 2019 would mean thousands of UK-based firms reliant on 'passports' to service clients in the EU would lose that right overnight.

While UBS has softened its stance on the number of jobs that are likely to move, it is still hashing out plans to protect itself. Mr Ermotti looked to soothe concerns for London staff on Friday by saying that it was his "target" to "keep as many people as we can in London".

UBS is one of the last big banks to decide on where it might relocate people post-Brexit, with London staff last week asked to rank whether they would prefer to relocate to Amsterdam, Madrid or Frankfurt, sources told Reuters.

"We are finalising our plan on where to move people that need to be moved over the next one to three years depending on the outcome of this political discussion and negotiation," Mr Ermotti said.