GE Money’s European Vacation

It’s one thing to move a couple key executives to London or even change your “official” headquarters to Dubai (as Halliburton has done). But it’s quite another to shift an entire business unit across the Atlantic.

That’s what GE is doing with its consumer finance business “GE Money”.

Not surprisingly, it has ruffled a few protectionist feathers.

Take a closer look, though, and it’s not as dramatic as it sounds. GE Money already generates about three-quarters of its profit outside the US, according to the FT. Nor does the move involve a whole lot of employees.

GE said moving GE Money’s headquarters from Stamford, the Connecticut town that has become a haven for hedge funds and other finance businesses, to London would involve the transfer of fewer than 30 people. It added that GE Money was a decentralised business, with operations in more than 50 countries.

WSJ’s Deal Journal Blog reads between the lines for some other explanations.