Smirking French bank chief swoops into NYC to pitch for post-Brexit business from UK
A LEADING French bank chief has said financial business is for the taking following the UK's decision to leave the European Union.
Noyer attempts to poach business from post-Brexit London
Christian Noyer, France's special envoy on Brexit, headed to New York City as the UK Government began the Brexit process by introducing a Bill to invoke Article 50.
A chirpy Mr Noyer said financial firms will relocate from London and Paris was the best location. But he appeared less happy when it was suggested Brexit could have a more negative impact on the EU’s economy than Britain’s.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Mr Noyer said he had been instructed by the French Government to find out how financial institutions in the US and other countries were reacting to Britain leaving the EU and its single market.
Christian Noyer says Paris is the alternative to London
He said: “Now I’m here, as I’ve been in many other places, to discuss with those financial institutions what could be their strategy and try to show that Paris would be an interesting opportunity because it’s already the second financial place, far from London, but still having the whole range of financial activities.
“The conditions to be met are not politically possible for the UK, that’s what I understand.
"So it means the global financial firms we have, which are heavily working in London and from the London base all over Europe, will have to relocate. Not everything, but some activities."
David Davis has introduced the Brexit Bill
Asked how Paris might compete with other European Union cities for business should firms re-locate, Mr Noyer said the French capital was an easy choice.
He said: “The major arguments are probably that Paris is the only big city comparable to London in Europe.
“All other places we’re talking about are relatively small cities. It’s an attractive city, so it’s easy to attract staff there. There’s a pool of talent.
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“We have tens of thousands of young French working in the city of London, so it means that the education system is providing every year a generation of people able and willing to work in the financial market industry.”
He added income tax for people moving to France from abroad had been “enhanced” and was the most attractive in Europe behind London.
The French Government has promised to cut corporation tax from 33.3 per cent to 28 per cent by 2020.
Put to him that Brexit could be worse for France and the EU’s economy than the UK's, Mr Noyer moved to dismiss the suggestion.
He said: “We don’t believe at all that it can be a problem for the financing of the European economy.
"If instantly London were to disappear that might be a problem, but that would be true everywhere.
“We can rebuild something in a couple of years as strong and as efficient as what we have today.”
Barclays is setting out plans to increase operations in Dublin and use it as its main base in the EU should British banks be forced to relocate because of Brexit.
But CEO Jes Staley has said the UK will remain the “financial lungs” of Europe post-Brexit.
HSBC as said it could move 1,000 investment banking jobs to Paris before the end of the Article 50 process.