LONDON – London’s financial sector could lose 5,000 jobs ahead of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union in March, the government has said, backing an estimate from the Bank of England.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen agreed with the BoE forecast and said there hadn’t been wholesale moves of large institutions to other cities with the European Union, as he gave evidence to a House of Lords committee on Wednesday.

The BoE has cut its projection for job losses in the City of London by the date of Brexit in half from its initial estimate of around 10,000, despite the UK failing to secure continued access for financial-services firms to the EU via current ‘passporting’ arrangements.

Glen said he didn’t have any calculations for the expected hit from Brexit to the 72.1 billion pounds ($94.44 billion) in tax contributed by the UK financial services sector in fiscal 2017.

He also said the UK government continues to expect to secure a trade deal with the EU before March.

In a separate announcement Wednesday, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority launched consultations over its approach to Brexit if Britain leaves the EU without a transition period for financial regulation.

“Today we are publishing two consultation papers to ensure that in the event the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 without an implementation period, we have a robust regulatory regime from day one, and to ensure a smooth transition for EEA firms and funds currently passporting into the UK,” said Nausicaa Delfas, executive director of international at the FCA.