Monday 30 January 2017

The Brexit Bankers' Dilemma

This piece in the FT last week is very revealing about the state of Brexit.


At Davos, the Chief Exec of Goldman Sachs was joined by the other Chief Execs of US Banks in warning that a Hard Brexit will see them move their European Operations into EU jurisdictions.


As a reminder, Goldmans actively financed Greece to the point of bankruptcy, shorted the CMBS and RMBS bonds that created the Great Financial Crash and then begged the Fed (run by an Ex-Goldmans alumni, natch) to bail out AIG which owed it billions of Credit Default Swaps such that its collapse would have taken down Goldmans too. There are newer scandals over Aluminium and other commodity hoarding, but the charge sheet is long enough.


So, anything told by a Goldmans CEO is every time and always talking their own book. The US Banks have a big dilemma, none of the Execs they send to Europe want to work or locate their families anywhere but London. At the moment, strikes are threatened and even enacted every time Paris is mentioned.


This is a big headache, one might have thought the Banks would do well to lobby the cause of the problem, the EU, who after all are the ones insisting on Hard Brexit, thanks to their overblown commitment to the four freedoms.


Anyway, the Banks whine on in the article how about how tough life is for them and why they are annoyed that their special pleading is being ignored. Then right at then (this is an FT article after all), they note how Prime Minister May understands their issues perfectly and is quite aware of the real impacts upon them of Brexit.


That must have both killed the journalist to write but also must have ruined the day of the US Bankers - how can they square the circle of not firing their friends and colleagues (read cousins etc)and replacing them with work to rule French people?

17 comments:

Blue Eyes said...

I am sure there will be lots of functions moving to cities within the rEU. Barclays have already announced that they are moving their brass plate and a whopping 1.5% of their staff to Dublin. Presumably others will do the same.

That leaves London with 98.5% of the existing "back office" functions plus whatver new business can result from a proper review of regulations and taxes to suit the UK and the UK only.

It all sounds catastrophic!

SumoKing said...

So, anything told by a Goldmans CEO is every time and always talking their own book. The US Banks have a big dilemma, none of the Execs they send to Europe want to work or locate their families anywhere but London. At the moment, strikes are threatened and even enacted every time Paris is mentioned.

But this is straight out of a fake news fairy story. The yanks in particular love Paris from a quality of life and lifestyle point of view.

david morris said...

What SK said.

Gullible/Fake News Purveyors should note what insiders such as Michael Lewis (Liars Poker) have to say on Bank location Yurup side of the pond.

CityUnslicker said...

SK- You can say fake news, I can only respond with what I have heard directly from those concerned - not third party info on my part.

Yanks who are already in the UK hate the idea of French schools, their wives more so. Some mention commuting from London as a possibility.... I can agree whether or not in the end the banks will care as they can take a lot of cost of their books is another thing.

BE - Indeed, the much bigger move for Barclays is the move from Canary Wharf to Poole/Birmingham; which will not doubt get blamed on Brexit but is in fact a result of the Vickers report.

Electro-Kevin said...

Presumably most bankers have invested in SE housing stock. How's that doing ?

Blue Eyes said...

EK you are quite right that property ownership is a barrier to labour mobility.

Paris is lovely. Whether or not it is a good place to be a high-earner I do not know.

CityUnslicker said...

EK - really well as long as it is not Chelsea or Mayfair. Liquidity is an issue though....

K said...

The people most concerned about the banks seem to be the same people who wanted to hang bankers not so long ago.

Blue Eyes said...

Indeed, K.

Timbo614 said...

London will be absolutey fine, what with EU threatening cashless starting next year London will respond with Tax-Less. London is already accused of being a big Tax evading money laudering centre. Once out we may as well make it so.

Blue Eyes said...

And nobody mention the FTT!

CityUnslicker said...

Don't mention FTT BE!

Blue Eyes said...

I mentioned it, but I think I got away with it.

James Higham said...

Love the epithets someone dreams up - Hard Brexit, Soft Brexit, Brexit with nice curly bits. Just get out, with no further payment - that is the imperative. And laugh in the face of the 500bn demand.

Charlie said...

An SNP MP was on TV today describing a "Hard Tory Brexit".

I had to press mute at that point.

Blue Eyes said...

Shades of Gordoom's endtotoryboomandbust.

Charlie said...

Indeed. The SNP are one of my greater political annoyances. That they can send 56 MPs to Westminster with less than 5% of the vote is ludicrous.

Mind you, while they're able to return all those MPs, we're safe from a Labour government, so, swings and roundabouts.