- Title: Dublin and Frankfurt eye up banks looking to leave London over Brexit
- Date: 18th August 2017
- Summary: FRANKFURT, GERMANY (AUGUST 14, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRANKFURT MAIN FINANCE MANAGING DIRECTOR HUBERTUS VAETH SAYING: "Well competition makes us thrive. We like competition and competition is good because it brings out the best in people. It brings out for example that we were able to highlight all these strengths in Frankfurt. To be honest in the beginning it was an uphill battle because there's still a perception which I would say is 15-20 years back, where Frankfurt was considered to be a bit of a sleepy city and a bit of a cultural backwater. So, we've been taking the opportunity to highlight and show old recent developments over the last 20 years in Frankfurt. And people came, saw and said wow."
- Embargoed: 1st September 2017 10:50
- Keywords: London banking sector European financial sector Frankfurt business hub UK leaving the EU Dublin financial centre
- Location: FRANKFURT, GERMANY + DUBLIN, IRELAND + LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- City: FRANKFURT, GERMANY + DUBLIN, IRELAND + LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- Country: Various
- Topics: Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA0046UOOPSD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:An Eintracht Frankfurt soccer game and an American football match in Dublin.
These were some of the secrets to Frankfurt and Dublin's pitch to Wall Street and beyond after Britain voted to leave the EU and countries across Europe tried to lure banks away from London.
The two cities went on year-long marketing campaigns to convince lenders to set up shop in their cities after Brexit.
For now, they look to have secured the most commitments from big name investment banks with all major U.S. banks opting for one of those cities as their new legal EU bases. But those agreements won't necessarily translate into thousands more jobs or tax revenues.
Within the last month alone, Wall Street banks Morgan Stanley, Citi, Bank of America and Japanese banks Nomura, Mizuho and Mistubishi have all announced decisions for new EU headquarters, with all of them opting for Frankfurt or Dublin.
Those cities undertook huge marketing efforts to win banks' business. In return they hope to land an influx of high-earning bankers, a boost to their public coffers and more trade for their local economies.
But so far banks have indicated only a few hundred jobs will move to those cities, with many hedging their bets by saying they will likely spread jobs across several EU countries. The worry for Dublin and Frankfurt is that they could end up with regulatory burden - and some of the risk - of overseeing big investment banks' balance sheets, without any major economic benefit.
At stake is potentially 40,000 investment banking jobs, according to estimates from consultancy firm Oliver Wyman, which would amount to half of the 80,000 investment banking jobs currently located in London.
But for now, banks are holding off on implementing plans to move a significant number of people, focusing instead on ensuring they have the right legal and operational framework to do business in the EU if Britain fails to negotiate a favorable exit deal, banking executives say.
So far, the largest global banks in London have indicated about 9,600 jobs could go to the continent in the next two years though few have yet moved, according to public statements and information from industry sources. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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