Deutsche Bank is considering shifting a lion’s share of its assets, Financial Times reported. The bank eyes moving 75% of its balance sheet. 

Currently, Deutsche Bank accounts for nearly 50% of total assets held by European banks in Britain. According to experts, this would be a devastating blow to London’s status as a financial hub. While the bank does not disclose the balance sheet size of its UK arm, it is estimated at nearly 600 billion euros.

As the UK will be considered a third country when it withdraws from the EU in March 2019, the European Central Bank required Deutsche Bank to move its capital and liquidity to Germany so that to comply with the rules applied to these countries.

The ECB fears that excessive global transactions of Deutsche Bank will remain in the UK after Brexit, which will be difficult to control.

The final decision regarding the transfer of assets from London is under way. Deutsche has already started to reduce the number of financial transactions in the UK. The transfer of assets could take between three and five years, experts say.