European financial-services firms are all set to drastically increase their use of offshore resources, with up to 450,000 continental European financial-services jobs moving offshore by 2010, according to new research from Celent, an international research and consulting firm.

Europe is the fastest growing region for most Indian outsourcing firms, and will continue to grow as European firms bring their cost structures in line with global competitors, says the report titled Offshoring in the European Banking and Securities Industries.

“As European financial markets continue to liberalize, converge and grow, banks that are not leveraging the cost savings and experience of offshoring will find themselves unable to compete with lower-priced firms,” says Lauren Bender, Manager, Retail Securities & Investments group, Celent and author of the report.