Post-Brexit business exodus likely

A survey compiled by KPMG business consultants and published on Monday, said 76 percent of big UK corporations were likely to move either their headquarters or their operations outside Britain because of the June 23 Brexit vote.

After polling 100 chief executives from companies with revenues between 100 million pounds ($130 million, 115 million euros) and 1 billion pounds, KPMG said CEOs were reacting to prevailing uncertainty with contingency planning.

In a referendum held June 23, a majority of Britons voted in favor of leaving the European Union, causing huge uncertainty among businesses about the extent to which they would have access to EU markets in future.

"Over half believe the UK's ability to do business will be disrupted once we Brexit and therefore, for many CEOs, it is important that they plan different scenarios to hedge against future disruption," the report noted.

Asked what would encourage businesses to continue investing in Britain following the Brexit vote, the majority of CEOs surveyed by KPMG ranked certainty over trade terms as the most important. Only one CEO said a timetable for triggering the formal divorce process and the subsequent exit was the most important factor.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is reportedly weighing to trigger Article 50 early next year, opening the way for up to two years of exit negotiations. In a warning about negative consequences for British companies, Lloyd's of London chairman John Nelson told the news agency Reuters last week that the insurance market would be ready to move some of its business to the EU as soon as Britain would launch exit talks.

In addition, a number of European business associations and companies said Britain's banking and insurance sector could only enjoy EU market access post-Brexit if the country abided by the bloc's rules of allowing free movement of capital, goods and labor.

uhe/kd (Reuters, KPMG)