Expert reveals BRILLIANT reason why London will REMAIN top financial player after Brexit
EXCLUSIVE: BRITAIN will remain a “leading” financial contender after its exit from the European Union, according to a former head of the World Trade Organisation Pascal Lamy.
Ex-WTO chief: London to remain financial centre after Brexit
Former Director General of the WTO Pascal Lamy stressed that London will not lose its significance after Brexit, despite claims the City will lose thousands of finance jobs.
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Mr Lamy said: "I think London will remain a major financial centre because there is a sort of eco-system around finance, banking, insurance, which is there.
“But, for sure, the part of the City of London that had grown during the last 20 or 30 years, which grew because it was the door to entry to the EU market with Japanese banks, Korean banks, Chinese banks, American banks, establishing in London because that was the gate open to the EU.”
Mr Lamy, who is also a former EU Commissioner for Trade warned that London will be a smaller financial player because foreign banks will no longer have a gateway to the European Union through the City.
So it will shrink the importance of London, not to the point of making London insignificant
Mr Lamy said: “Now, if the UK leaves, it closes and you have a regulatory border and then these banks will go to the Continent.
“So it will shrink the importance of London, not to the point of making London insignificant.
“There is a big eco-system around finance, insurance, currency exchange, legal professions, so a smaller yet still very relevant financial place."
London was crowned as the world’s biggest financial centre, by the Global Financial Centers Index, beating New York, Singapore and Hong Kong to the top spot.
Bloomberg: London will remain Europe's financial capital after Brexit
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told CNN that London will not be negatively affected by Brexit following claims by RBS chief Howard Davies that over 100,000 people will leave London after the UK leaves the European Union.
Dr Fox said that since the Brexit vote, the UK has had a “record amount” of inward investment which is the “highest in our history”.
But the Bank of England announced in October that Brexit could cost the loss of 75,000 finance jobs.
The Bank also warned that financial institutions should prepare its contingency plans in the likelihood of Britain falling onto WTO rules.
According to a report by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), 60 per cent of British firms may trigger their contingency plans by March 2018 if there is no transitional deal in place.
Mr Lamy also slammed claims that trading under WTO rules would be “hell” for Britain. He said: ““It’s not apocalyptic, it’s not hell.”
But he warned that between the status of Brexit talks now and implementing the final regime it could take up to ten years to complete Britain's exit from the bloc.