McDonald's to quit London for Geneva-paper

* McDonald's to move Euro HQ to Geneva from London-Telegraph

* McDonald's says FY tax rate will remain 29-31 pct

LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) - Restaurant chain McDonald's (MCD.N) will join the ranks of companies quitting Britain when it moves its European headquarters to Geneva from London later this year, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

"The move enables us to conduct the strategic management of key international intellectual property rights, including the licensing of those rights to our franchisees in Europe, from Switzerland," a McDonald's spokesperson was quoted as telling the paper.

McDonald's, which has 6,000 restaurants in 40 European countries, said it expected its annual tax rate to remain between 29 percent and 31 percent and that its UK business would continue to be run from London.

The U.S. company joins other large U.S. corporations that have based their European operations in Switzerland, including Kraft (KTF.N), Procter & Gamble (PG.N) and Yahoo (YHOO.O).

British companies Regus (RGU.L), WPP (WPP.L) and Shire (SHP.L) have also moved their bases abroad in recent years in search of more favourable tax regimes. (Reporting by Rhys Jones; editing by Karen Foster)