Citigroup Inc (>> Citigroup Inc), Morgan Stanley (>> Morgan Stanley) and Bank of America Corp (>> Bank of America Corp) are considering Ireland as an alternative location for some of their European activities if they need to move them out of the UK, according to people familiar with the banks, the Financial Times reported.(http://on.ft.com/1t80uTx)

The FT reported that the plans were at a very early stage.

Representatives of the three banks could not immediately be reached for comment outside regular working hours.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed to conduct a referendum on a renegotiated EU membership if the Conservative party is re-elected in 2015. This possibility has raised fears that the world's sixth-largest economy could quit the club it joined in 1973.

The situation worries many in the City of London, the financial centre that accounts for roughly one-tenth of the British economy.

(Reporting by Karen Rebelo in Bangalore; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Stocks treated in this article : Citigroup Inc, Bank of America Corp, Morgan Stanley