Europe’s financial centres have given up hope of triggering an exodus of companies and jobs away from London in the wake of Brexit.
The head of Luxembourg’s government finance agency said relocations from the City are “basically over” with London’s crown as Europe’s financial services capital intact.
Nicolas Mackel, chief executive of Luxembourg for Finance, said: “It’s obvious London is and will remain Europe’s most important financial services industry.”
He told The Telegraph: “The relocations were basically over after 2018. Why? Because the industry, at least the large players, wanted to be ready by March 2019, which was the initial date for Brexit.”
However, he warned that London will no longer be the “automatic choice” for attracting new business due to Brexit and will face tougher competition from European hubs.
Britain’s vote to leave the EU triggered warnings of a mass exodus from the City that would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. However, London has avoided the gloomiest predictions with only an estimated 7,500 jobs leaving for European hubs, such as Dublin, Paris, Luxembourg and Frankfurt.
Miles Celic, chief executive at TheCityUK, also said that the “movement of capital and people as a direct consequence of Brexit is largely complete”.
There were concerns earlier this year that the Brexit deal’s limited agreements on financial services would hit the Square Mile.
Conor Lawlor at UK Finance said: “Fewer financial services staff have moved out of the UK than had originally been predicted although firms always keep such decisions under review.”
Mr Celic warned the UK must not be complacent over the limited losses to the Continent, arguing it “must offer businesses a compelling reason to make Britain their global base of operations”.
It came as the Lord Mayor of London said Brexit has “been a great incentive for the UK to get back out there in the world”.
Vincent Keaveny told The Telegraph that the UK’s departure from the EU should encourage it to “look for the opportunities in the emerging markets of the world and in partnering countries like Australia and like India”.
