Financial traders and stock brokers are set for an overnight stay at work tonight as they prepare to deal with the result of the EU referendum.
Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have all asked senior members of staff to remain in the office throughout the night as the votes are counted, while lower level staff are working shifts between the close of markets on Thursday and their reopening on Friday morning.
Citigroup has booked taxis to ensure staff arrive at the office before 4am, while JPMorgan has booked nearby hotels in Canary Wharf for clients.
The referendum result, whichever way it goes, is expected to spark a large amount of activity when the markets re-open on Friday morning. As a result, some firms are bringing in extra staff to cope with demand. CMC Markets will have 30-40 extra staff working through the night and is providing hotel rooms and food for staff to keep them going.
Grant Foley, chief financial officer at CMC Markets, said: We have got an extra 30-40 people staggered across the night in London.
“We have paid for people to have hotel rooms near the offices and we will be ordering in food to keep them sustained.”
Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have warned clients that it may be difficult to complete some trades given the expected level of activity on Friday.
