In a public stance against the increasing tax burden in the UK, last December the firm offered to help its brokers move abroad in response to the 50 per cent “super tax” on bankers’ bonuses over £25,000 (around $37,300) proposed in the UK finance minister's Pre-Budget Report. The offer was in response to what brokers were saying about the levy, the firm said at the time.

However, Mr Smith has since said that fewer brokers than expected will move abroad, and has blamed the recent ruling in the Gaines-Cooper case, according to media reports. Last month the Court of Appeal ruled that UK-born businessman Robert Gaines-Cooper hadn’t really left the UK when he moved to the Seychelles in 1976, despite spending fewer than 91 days per year in the UK.

“We’re still reviewing the options but I wouldn’t think that the number is going to be that high. The matter of Gaines-Cooper versus HMRC since then has made it much more difficult to relocate,” Mr Smith is reported as saying.

“For us, we would need whole trading desks or product classes to relocate. Any of our staff who went would probably have to relocate entirely, taking their wives and children with them. But they don’t know now whether even coming back on a client visit would mean they would qualify as residents. I wouldn’t say that it’s not possible but it’s less feasible than it was before,” he said.