Barclays is to shift between 40 and 50 investment banking jobs from London to Frankfurt as it prepares for Britain’s exit from the EU.

Previously, the bank, which employs 48,700 people in the UK, said it would be expanding its operations in Dublin by 150-200 jobs, making Ireland its base for continuing to trade within the EU.

But it has emerged that some of those jobs will be based in Frankfurt, although technically the individuals would be employed by the Irish unit, according to a report from Reuters. Most are expected to be hired locally rather than physically moved from London.

It is understood that the roles affected are in the bank’s euro trading team. The shift will allow Barclays to continue trading in euros with European clients even if the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 with no trade deal or transition agreement.

The Barclays chief executive, Jes Staley, said last year that he saw no reason to shift many British jobs to Europe as a result of Brexit and described the restructuring required leaving the EU as straightforward compared with other challenges faced by the bank.

A spokesman for Barclays declined to comment.

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There has been intense speculation about the number of jobs that will be lost in the finance industry, which currently employs 1.1 million people in the UK, as a result of Brexit.

Initial forecasts were for about 10,000 job losses, but in March a Reuters poll of 119 finance firms found that the eventual reduction may be only half that number. It found that Paris had edged Frankfurt and Dublin aside as the most popular destination.

Goldman Sachs has opted to split its EU-facing business between Frankfurt and Paris. JP Morgan has bought a landmark office building in Dublin to house 1,000 staff, double the number it currently employs in the city, while HSBC has said it expects to create 1,000 jobs in Paris.