By March 27, 2018, 7:18 AM EDT London has flourished as a financial center for decades in part because global banks, from offices around the bustling City of London district, could sell their services freely around the European Union. With the clock ticking on Britain’s exit from the 28-nation trading bloc — the complicated international divorce known as Brexit — the city’s status as a banking hub is under threat. If U.K. firms lose easy access to Europe’s $19 trillion economy, which seems likely under the terms laid out by Prime Minister Theresa May, Britain becomes a far less attractive place to do business.1. How big a loss is this for London?London could lose 10,000 jobs in banking and 20,000 roles in the larger field of financial services, according to Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank. Other estimates range wildly from as many as 232,000 jobs to as few as 4,000, so view them with some skepticism. Executives at banks including Morgan … [Read more...] about Will Brexit Trigger an Exodus of Banks From London?
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London Soccer Club Gets Rich While Losing and Fan Revolt Follows
Longtime Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger once described West Ham United’s recent move to London’s former Olympic stadium as the equivalent of “winning the lottery,” an unfair financial advantage that put the team on the cusp of the Premier League’s elite.It hasn’t exactly worked out that way. With seven games to go in the season, the Hammers are in 17th place, two points away from losing their spot in the Premier League. A loss to Southampton this Saturday would put West Ham at risk of being reassigned to England’s second-tier professional league.A season-and-a-half of simmering discontent boiled over during their last match, a 3-0 loss to Burnley, and the fans stormed the field, interrupting play four times. Twenty fans were given lifetime bans by the club after the demonstrations, with still more under investigation. The disruptions are unprecedented during the Premier League’s 25-year history and a reminder of much more frequent … [Read more...] about London Soccer Club Gets Rich While Losing and Fan Revolt Follows
Deutsche Bank Seeking Replacement for CEO, London Times Says
Deutsche Bank AG is considering candidates to potentially replace Chief Executive Officer John Cryan amid heightened tensions between him and Supervisory Board Chairman Paul Achleitner, the Times of London reported without saying where it got the information.The bank approached Richard Gnodde, the head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s international operations, but he’s thought to have spurned the overture, the newspaper said. Deutsche Bank also considered UniCredit SpA CEO Jean Pierre Mustier and Standard Chartered Plc CEO Bill Winters, according to the report.Disagreement between Cryan, 57, and Achleitner, 61, has flared over strategy, with the CEO and Chief Financial Officer James von Moltke pushing for a more radical restructuring of businesses including the investment bank, the newspaper cited a senior source as saying. Cryan also irked Achleitner last year by avoiding a meeting with one of the company’s top shareholders, HNA Group Co., the Wall Street Journal … [Read more...] about Deutsche Bank Seeking Replacement for CEO, London Times Says
London’s Housing Market Shows More Signs of Being in Doldrums
A Hometrack report provided further signs that London’s long housing boom is coming to an end.Prices across the capital will start falling by mid-year, the research company predicted, just two weeks after broker Savills Plc said values are already dropping at the fastest pace since the depths of the recession. Hometrack said that Brexit and tax changes aimed at slowing the rampant real estate market in London and the southeast are finally forcing vendors to cut asking prices.“This is a result of tax changes impacting overseas and domestic investors and stretched affordability for owner-occupiers that has been compounded by Brexit uncertainty,” said Richard Donnell, insight director at Hometrack. “Prices are next to follow.”House prices are already growing at their slowest pace in seven years across London, and fell in 42 percent of postcodes in February, the most since the global financial crisis, Hometrack said.London is among the U.K. cities hit hardest … [Read more...] about London’s Housing Market Shows More Signs of Being in Doldrums
London should team up with Zurich in push for open European markets, says peer
London should team up with Zurich to push for a good Brexit deal for the City, a leading peer has said. Baroness Falkner, chair of the Lords committee scrutinising the impact of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU on the finance sector, told a City event today the Swiss could prove a natural ally as Britain lobbies to maintain market access to the bloc. The Liberal Democrat peer said the UK and Switzerland had a common reason to pool their political and financial muscle to secure better trading terms for non-EU member countries. “The Swiss are important because Zurich is an enormously large centre. Frankfurt is not number two – it is Zurich, so the weight of the Swiss in this particular area is important,” Baroness Falkner said. Switzerland’s relations with the EU are governed by around 100 bilateral agreements and the bloc can revoke its market access if it steps out of line on any of these. Brussels angered Switzerland in December by … [Read more...] about London should team up with Zurich in push for open European markets, says peer