EU financial centres target City jobs

The jostling between financial centres on continental Europe to attract jobs from the City post-Brexit appears to be on the up.

Landing on The Lens’s desk this morning was a new book on how Paris should use the opportunity to grow its financial expertise, by becoming a world leader in green finance.

The book, “Paris, the kilometre zero of green finance” is by Phillipe Zaouati, the chief executive of Paris asset manager Mirova.

After Brexit, Zauoati postulates, “Paris holds the cards to become a leading actor of green finance.”

“Paris can become a new type of financial centre, resolutely focussed on the ecological transition and the struggle against inequality in all its forms,” he writes.

Paris will however face competition from Luxembourg, whose stock exchange is also aiming to become a leader in green bonds.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, the most recent “Brexit Tracker” report from EY found that the City of London is on track to lose 7,000 financial services jobs in the “near future” because of Brexit while £1 trillion of assets are transferred to financial centres in the EU.

The quarterly report warns that financial services firms have stepped up contingency plans for an increasingly likely ‘no-deal’ exit from the EU next week and job relocation away from the Square Mile is rising.

The report, which tracks the intentions of 222 UK-based financial services firms, found that 23 companies have so far announced transfers of assets from the UK to Europe.

But the total assets transferred could be substantially greater than £1 trillion as not all the firms surveyed by EY have publicly declared how much they have transferred.

Among those firms to have declared their asset transfers, the figure has risen to £1 trillion, up from £800 billion three months ago.

Dublin remains the most popular location with 28 companies saying they are considering or have moved operations and/or staff. However, the gap has narrowed between the number of companies confirming Frankfurt (21), Luxembourg (19) and Paris (18).

Across Europe, in addition to the 7,000 roles relocating from the UK, more than 2,300 new jobs have been created which are attributable to Brexit.