Bloomberg: Britain’s Financial Power Is Already Seeping Away

The writing is on the wall for Great Britain as banking officials increasingly question London’s ability to endure as a global banking center after British citizens demonstrated isolationist tendencies by voting to exit from the European Union in 2016. Major banks based in the United States, Japan and elsewhere consider relocating operations from London to Frankfurt: “an exodus would jeopardize an industry responsible for nearly a tenth of the economy and some 1.1 million jobs,” reports Bloomberg. The European Central Bank prepares to revise regulations and allow clearing of euro-denominated financial instruments. Britain now handles more than three times such derivatives trading than the next seven EU countries combined – about 75 percent of all trading in euro-denominated interest-rate swaps. British officials contend that market fragmentation could hike prices, but a logical response is that such "fragmentation" could increase competition, reducing prices while offering a buffer against more regulations emerging from a nation leaning toward protectionism. – YaleGlobal

Bloomberg: Britain’s Financial Power Is Already Seeping Away

Pre-Brexit moves: The ECB makes bid for authority over euro clearing, while banks press ahead with plans to relocate jobs from London to Frankfurt
Alessandro Speciale, Gavin Finch and Steven Arons
Monday, June 26, 2017
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