Bank of England fears UK could lose 75,000 finance jobs due to Brexit
2 min read
The Bank of England reportedly expects as many as 75,000 financial services jobs could be lost once the UK leaves the EU.
According to the BBC, the Bank is using the 75,000 figure as a "reasonable scenario", although much depends on whether the UK secures a specific deal for financial services in its negotiations with Brussels.
Threadneedle Street has asked other banks and institutions such as hedge funds to prepare contingency plans in the event Britain leaves the bloc without a deal and falls back on World Trade Organisation rules.
Estimates vary of the number of jobs that could go as a result of Brexit, with the Bank apparently believing that 10,000 positions will disappear from London on day one of Brexit.
Beyond that there is a high degree of uncertainty - the head of the London Stock Exchange, Xavier Rolet, has suggested a figure as high as 200,000 jobs, while other studies pitch it at more like 65,000.
A report from consultants Oliver Wyman suggested about 40,000 finance jobs would go, with another 30-40,000 in related fields such as legal and professional services.
But even with that scale of losses, London would easily remain Europe's biggest financial centre, with over 1 million workers.
Failure to reach a deal on financial services would also have serious consequence for many EU businesses reliant on London's capital markets and services firms.
The chief executive of Barclays, Jes Staley, has also described Brexit as a "wholly manageable challenge" and "significantly less costly" than when the bank had to set up a US holding company in 2016.
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