French finance chief says Brexit won’t be a catastrophe for the City of London
Warnings about Brexit’s impact on the City have been overblown, according to French finance chief Christian Noyer.
Noyer was formerly the governor of the Bank of France, and is now leading French efforts to persuade banks to pick Paris as a location after Brexit. He has also been tasked with protecting France’s financial services sector in Brexit talks.
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However, he does not think the UK’s exit from the European Union will be as catastrophic as some have claimed.
Speaking on the Today Programme, Noyer said: “Twenty years ago London was already the first financial centre and Paris was much more important.
“Many banks had concentrated their forces in London which had tens or sometimes hundreds of staff in Paris before. So if that goes back to where we were 20 years ago it is not a catastrophe for the City.”
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There have been multiple reports saying tens of thousands of City jobs will be lost when the UK leaves the EU. Last week, London mayor Sadiq Khan published an analysis claiming London will lose 87,000 jobs if the government opts for a “no deal” Brexit.
Separately, consultants Oliver Wyman estimated that the City could face job losses numbering 75,000, but more recently, the Bank of England said it was assuming 10,000 “day one” job losses after March 2019.