Crisis prompts bank to mull Germany exit

The JP Morgan bank has contingency plans in place to move its work from Germany to other countries, possibly including the United Kingdom, amid concerns there could be power blackouts in the European Union's biggest economy this winter.

The United States-based bank is preparing for power outages following Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to cut gas supplies to the continent, sources told The Telegraph newspaper.

Last week, Russia announced that the crucial Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which supplied about one-third of the gas exported by Russia to Europe, will remain closed until Western sanctions related to the conflict in Ukraine are eased.

With finance markets impacted by the news, companies such as JP Morgan are now studying emergency measures in case the energy crisis in Germany worsens, the sources said.

"Work transfers could also be to and from any location, not just involving the UK," one source said.

Shifting office work to the UK would come only years after several financial institutions including JP Morgan moved billions of dollars of assets from London to Frankfurt in the wake of the Brexit vote, noted the report.

The report said other measures being studied include using diesel generators in the company's Frankfurt offices, or ordering staff to work from home to reduce its corporate energy consumption.

But the bank currently has no intention to implement any of the measures just yet, sources said.

"It would take a perfect storm of a complete shutdown of Russian gas supply, no reduction of gas use at all and little alternative sourcing for gas before it would have real impact on our business," they said.

Europe is trying to wean itself off Russian energy while businesses and consumers are struggling to cope with the supply restrictions that mean gas prices are now 10 or more times higher than long term averages, noted the Reuters news agency. Germany's efforts to avert a winter crisis include filling gas stores and restarting coal power plants.

On Sunday, the German government unveiled financial help for households as well as plans for a windfall tax on energy company profits. The country's Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the 65-billion-euro ($64 billion) support package would ensure Germany can "get through this winter".