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How will the dominant position of the City, as the financial centre in Europe, change with regard to Brexit?

Most people in the City of London wanted Britain to stay in the EU, but I think we also expect that London and Britain will be leaving and there will be some adjustment. However, I am still very confident that London will remain the indispensable global financial centre in the continent of Europe, even outside the EU. We believe that a strong London is in the interest of a strong EU and a strong Europe, providing a valuable service to the wider European economy and we will continue to do that. The City is a highly international centre, there are people working in the City from the EU27 countries, as well as from the US, Japan, Australia and other countries, and sometimes I think the City of London is hosted by the UK on behalf of both - Europe and the world. It is a mistake to see it too narrowly, we see it as a pan-European asset and not just a British asset.

 

Mansion house, London

 

Do you expect some jobs to be lost in the City in the foreseeable future or after Brexit?

I think there will be some adjustment to jobs for businesses that need a licensed presence in the EU and currently an operating license, and in order to meet the requirements, to gain that license, they will need a presence in places that do not require a license. So, I think the adjustment will be at the margin and not a fundamental adjustment. The problem is to measure the consequences of Brexit in isolation and there are lots of big changes that are happening; the rise of Asian economies, specifically China, automation, technology, artificial intelligence, etc., and London is constantly involved in order to meet the changing requirements, so people will need to adjust to Brexit as part of that evolutionary process.

Regarding laws and regulation that affect financial markets and financial institutions, which major differences do you expect between the EU and the UK? Can you share some particular cases?

The UK will be outside of the EU and so it cannot be expected that we will behave exactly as a member of the EU, however the consensus in the City of London is not in favour of actively seeking a divergent rulebook, people want to see that we have a partnership approach, based on mutual recognition of systems between the EU and the UK that wants to adopt global standards. We want that the UK and the EU work together and not to create incompatibility between the systems. It is important to retain compatibility for mutual market access.

 

Tower Bridge, London

 

Do you think it is possible that the UK stays in the EU, that Brexit does not happen?

I think it is so unlikely, we should work on the basis that Britain will leave. There are British people, including very notable people in Britain, who would like for Britain to stay in the EU, but we had a referendum in 2016 and the people were told that the result would be respected and implemented. So, I think it would be extremely difficult and divisive to seek to fail to implement the result of the referendum because some people do not like the result. I think the task is to look to the future, not to the past, and think how we can have the best possible external friendship with the EU that will be not the same as we have, but it will be greater than any other we have with any external country.