At a dinner on Sunday 1st October at the Conservative party conference, sponsored by Barclays, bankers, journalists, MPs and policy experts discussed ‘Brexit and the City: a future that works for everyone’. The event was chaired by Fraser Nelson and the article below is a summary of what was discussed.
Banks were the popular anti-hero of the 2008/09 financial crisis. Now, there is widespread fear for their future after Brexit, as they will be required to relocate some operations in order to continue to qualify for ‘passporting rights’ needed to provide financial services in the single market. On the other hand, Brexit could free us from regulation, which in some ways could boost business for the financial services industry.
Predictions that Frankfurt or Paris could steal London’s crown as the world’s financial capital are exaggerated. No other EU city currently features in the world’s top 10 financial centres. While banks are making preparations to relocate some functions elsewhere in the EU, they are not coalescing around one city, with Paris, Dublin and Amsterdam, as well as Frankfurt, being chosen as destinations.
Meanwhile, says Stephen Barclay, Economic Secretary to the Treasury and a former banker, London already has a lead in many developing areas of financial services – such as green finance and Islamic finance – which have a reach well beyond the shores of Europe.
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