REPORT: Barclays has chosen Dublin for its EU HQ after Brexit

Barclays has chosen Dublin, capital of the Republic of Ireland, as its headquarters within the European Union post-Brexit, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The report said Britain's banking giant is aiming to make its Dublin outfit its European HQ so it would not lose access to the Single Market, regardless of how the government's negotiations turn out with EU officials.

The Bloomberg report also said that Barclays is aiming to add 150 staff in its Dublin office.

The media outlet also said that Barclays had "started scouting the city for office space this month and has been in contact with Irish regulators about expanding its operations," according to its unnamed sources.

Barclays said: "We have made clear repeatedly that we will plan for a range of Brexit contingencies, including building greater capacity into our existing operations in Dublin. Identifying available office space is a necessary and predictable part of that contingency planning process."

Barclays did not immediately return with a comment when Business Insider contacted its representatives by email.

Read Bloomberg's full report here.

Banks have already warned on Brexit forcing relocations

The report follows closely after a number of banks, including Barclays, that said that Brexit is going to affect jobs.

Barclays CEO Jes Staley said earlier this month that operations will likely be shifted out of London as a result of the government's hard stance on Brexit. He said that Barclays will move some jobs from the capital to either Ireland or Germany, where Barclays already has operations.

"We may have to move certain activities, we may have to change the legal structure that we use to operate in Europe," he said in an interview with the BBC.

"Whether he have to route some activities through Ireland, or do something in Germany, those are the options that we are looking at."

Goldman Sachs is considering cutting its staffing numbers in London by up to 50% due to Brexit fears, according to a report on Thursday, while JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon said that more jobs than previously expected may have to be moved out of the UK as a result of Britain leaving the EU.

HSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver has said that Brexit will push bankers making 20% of London revenue to Europe.

The loss of passporting rights following Brexit is one of the biggest fears in the City of Londonand seems almost a certainty under May's "Hard Brexit" plan.

If the passport is taken away, London could cease to be the most important financial centre in Europe, costing the UK thousands of jobs and billions in revenues. Around 5,500 firms registered in the UK rely on the European Union's passporting rights for the financial services sector, and they turn over about £9 billion in revenue.There has been a surge in applications for Irish passports following the UK's vote to leave the European Union.

Meanwhile, figures from the Republic of Ireland's government showed that 733,000 passports were issued last year- a nearly 10% rise on the previous year.

Republic of Ireland Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said in a statement that Brexit was partly responsible for the rise, with a 41% increase in applications from Britain compared to 2015, and a 27% in applications from Northern Ireland.

Overall, the department issued 67,972 passports to people from Northern Ireland and 64,996 from Britain.