The move was motivated by Brexit, as the company wants to continue to sell in the European Union’s single market. A representative of the company commented: “We expect that RTSL will not be able to continue to access the EU market after the Brexit date due to the anticipated termination of passporting rights into the EU. Therefore, by establishing a new legal entity in Ireland and seeking authorization from the CBI (the Central Bank of Ireland), Thomson Reuters will be able to continue to sell and market regulated trading services into the Single Market.” Passporting rights give any firm registered within any European Economic Area country, ability to operate in any other EEA country without any further authorization procedures.
Other companies trading foreign exchange derivatives, including Bloomberg and MarketAxess, chose to move their operations to Amsterdam. According to the co-head of trading of the company, Thomson Reuters chose Dublin because it would “minimize disruption for clients”.