 "Theresa May")
UK Prime Minister Theresa May might have found a sceptical audience when she met the leaders of the global finance industry on Thursday as they push ahead with their own plans for Brexit.
However, she insisted she valued the contribution that banks make to Britain’s economy, even as they signalled they were packing their bags in response to Brexit.
The talks took place as bankers started to reveal more about how they will shift jobs to preserve their ability to service the EU market if May’s plan makes London operations unworkable. JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said on Wednesday that “it looks like there will be more job movement than we hoped for,” while HSBC Holdings Plc CEO Stuart Gulliver said staff generating about 20 per cent of London revenue may move to Paris.
Lloyds Banking Group Plc, Britain’s largest mortgage lender, is set to pick Frankfurt as its base for guaranteeing ties to the EU following Brexit, according to a source.
The industry pays 60 billion pounds ($73.7 billion) to 67 billion pounds in taxes each year, meaning the Treasury will suffer a hit and May loses some of her ability to stem the budget deficit when London bankers leave town. The UK financial-services industry generates as much as 205 billion pounds of revenue annually and employs 1.1 million people, according to a report prepared by Oliver Wyman on behalf of TheCityUK lobby group.
“We simply have to accommodate the laws of the land both in Britain and the EU,” Dimon, who had previously estimated 4,000 of 16,000 JPMorgan jobs may need to leave the UK, told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday. Goldman Sachs Group is considering cutting its London staff to 3,000, with transfers to New York and the European continent, Handelsblatt reported late Wednesday.
Bringing troubles
- HSBC Holdings CEO Stuart Gulliver said staff generating about 20% of London revenue may move to Paris
- Lloyds Banking Group, is set to pick Frankfurt as its base for guaranteeing ties to the EU following Brexit
- The industry pays £60 billion ($73.7 billion) to £67 billion in taxes each year, meaning the Treasury will suffer a hit
Bloomberg
