AFP, London :
Major international banks are seriously exploring whether to shift operations from London to Paris in the wake of Brexit, according to a senior official at France’s markets regulator.
“Large international banks… have already undertaken real due diligences and we have received a lot of practical questions regarding the way they are going to be managed from our perspective, with their relationship with the French regulators,” Benoit de Juvigny, secretary general at the AMF, told BBC television late Wednesday.
He stressed however that the enquiries remained “informal” at this stage, as did similar steps being taken by consultants and lawyers.
Other financial centres said to be in the running include Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt and Luxembourg.
Powerful lobby group the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has warned that international lenders with operations in the UK are ready to transfer some of their activities out of the country from early 2017, following Britain’s shock referendum decision to leave the European Union.
Big banks have publicly voiced their fears about the impact of Brexit, including potential loss of access to the European single market.
However, both the AMF and the BBA declined to comment further. The Treasury did not respond when approached for comment.
De Juvigny noted that while London possessed “great expertise” in the field, his own city’s expertise should not be underestimated, adding he sees the prospect of regulating banks wishing to move across the Channel as “a welcome challenge”.
“Also it is a dangerous challenge because we could see some kind of new competition between countries, between regulators.”
Britain’s Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May has stated that she will formally trigger the two-year EU divorce process by the end of March 2017.
However, Brussels and London face the daunting prospect of gruelling negotiations on future trade deals with the EU and countries outside of the bloc.
Major international banks are seriously exploring whether to shift operations from London to Paris in the wake of Brexit, according to a senior official at France’s markets regulator.
“Large international banks… have already undertaken real due diligences and we have received a lot of practical questions regarding the way they are going to be managed from our perspective, with their relationship with the French regulators,” Benoit de Juvigny, secretary general at the AMF, told BBC television late Wednesday.
He stressed however that the enquiries remained “informal” at this stage, as did similar steps being taken by consultants and lawyers.
Other financial centres said to be in the running include Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt and Luxembourg.
Powerful lobby group the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has warned that international lenders with operations in the UK are ready to transfer some of their activities out of the country from early 2017, following Britain’s shock referendum decision to leave the European Union.
Big banks have publicly voiced their fears about the impact of Brexit, including potential loss of access to the European single market.
However, both the AMF and the BBA declined to comment further. The Treasury did not respond when approached for comment.
De Juvigny noted that while London possessed “great expertise” in the field, his own city’s expertise should not be underestimated, adding he sees the prospect of regulating banks wishing to move across the Channel as “a welcome challenge”.
“Also it is a dangerous challenge because we could see some kind of new competition between countries, between regulators.”
Britain’s Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May has stated that she will formally trigger the two-year EU divorce process by the end of March 2017.
However, Brussels and London face the daunting prospect of gruelling negotiations on future trade deals with the EU and countries outside of the bloc.
