Barclays is moving up to 50 investment banking jobs from the UK to Frankfurt as it accelerates preparations for Brexit.

The UK bank has previously said it is moving between 150 to 200 people to its business in Dublin, which has an EU banking licence and will be its main base for trading in the bloc after Britain’s withdrawal.

Forty to 50 of these jobs will be based in a unit in Frankfurt, a branch business that sits below the Ireland subsidiary.

The news was first reported by Reuters. Barclays declined to comment. The high street bank employs almost 49,000 people in the UK in total.

City firms are pressing ahead with moving thousands of jobs to the Continent as they trigger contingency plans in preparation for a potential hard Brexit and restrictions on trading with companies in the EU.

Morgan Stanley’s chief executive James Gorman said last month he expects to move 400 to 500 jobs, representing up to 10pc of its 5,000 employees in the UK.

While the UK and EU have agreed a ‘standstill’ transition deal earmarked to kick in from next year, it has no legal certainty until it is ratified by politicians on both sides of the Channel, which is not expected until the autumn.