financial institutions

Large Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) filed a license application to set up a new subsidiary in Amsterdam, so that the financial group can continue to serve customers in the European Union after the Brexit, the bank said in a statement.

"The new subsidiary in Amsterdam will ensure that the Group can continue to provide these services to its EU clients, even if the cross-border passport is lost as a result of Brexit," the bank noted. Currently, the EU customers are served by a subsidiary based in the United Kingdom.

Many banks and financial institutions moving to Europe after the Brexit, are shunning Amsterdam due to the Netherlands' cap on bonuses. While the rest of the European Union capped bonuses at 100 percent of the fixed salary, the Netherlands' cap is 20 percent of the fixed salary. The banks fear losing talent to the competition, being forced to pay irresponsibly high salaries to keep employees and do not feel welcome in the Netherlands, Financieele Dagblad reports after talking to a number of companies assisting banks in their move to the EU mainland.

Amsterdam is in talks with numerous financial firms currently based in London about relocating to the Netherlands due to Britain's decision to leave the European Union, deputy mayor Kasja Ollongren confirmed, according to The Guardian. "They [financial institutions] are all preparing themselves. They don't know exactly what they have to prepare for because the situation is unclear and it will take some time until it is more clear. Financials and others are looking at possibilities and very often Amsterdam is on the shortlist", Ollongren said, according to the newspaper.

The number of companies and institutions going bankrupt in the Netherlands, is continuing its downward trend, which started in the summer of 2013. There were 35 fewer bankruptcies in June than in May.