EY said the slowdown signalled that financial outfits were already “largely prepared” for the UK to leave the EU or that “firms paused or slowed their Brexit preparations after the October extension date was announced”.

The latest edition of the “EY Financial Services Brexit Tracker” was released on 19 September. The consulting firm has been tracking 222 major financial firms and issuing quarterly updates since June 2016. EY said the figures in this edition were current as of 31 August.

Financial firms need to move operations to a country inside the EU27 to guarantee access to the European single market.

The number of announced relocations from the UK to Dublin remained steady at 29. However, the number moving to Luxembourg rose from 23 during the March-to-May period to 25 in the three months to August. Firms shifting operations to Luxembourg are “predominantly asset managers and insurers”, EY said.

Frankfurt attracted two more financial companies, bringing its total (mainly “large investment banks”) to 24.

The total number of planned job relocations from London to the EU remained “around 7,000”, the same figure EY reported in July and April. The amount of assets that financial firms plans to shift out of the UK due to Brexit remained “around £1 trillion”, which, again, were the same numbers reported in the two previous three-month periods.