The loss of thousands of jobs in the City has been touted as a “reasonable scenario” by senior figures at the central bank preparing for the UK leaving the European Union, the BBC has reported today.
The figure is based on an assumption that no deal specific to the UK and EU financial sectors is reached. The bank believes job losses could be fewer if a deal is hashed out before March 2019.
BBC economics editor Kamal Ahmed said he had been told the bank expected many jobs to move to the continent in the wake of Brexit.
In the event of a ‘no deal’ or ‘hard’ Brexit, 10,000 jobs could be lost “on day one”, he reported.
The news follows reports from firms such as JP Morgan which said it might move 1,000 jobs and UBS said it might relocate 250.
Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein has turned to Twitter in recent weeks to hint at the investment bank’s future after Brexit.
Yesterday, along with a picture of the bank’s new £300m head office in London, he tweeted: “In London. GS still investing in our big new Euro headquarters here. Expecting/hoping to fill it up, but so much outside our control. #Brexit.”
Earlier this month, Blankfein tweeted another provocative comment: “Just left Frankfurt. Great meetings, great weather, really enjoyed it. Good, because I’ll be spending a lot more time there. #Brexit.”
However, a 2016 report by Oliver Wyman said Brexit could open opportunities for the UK from growth in Fintech, the middle east and in green investments.
London would remain the largest financial centre even with the loss of some 75,000 jobs with more than one million people employed in financial services across the country.
The BoE will hit the headlines later this week when the Monetary Policy Committee votes on whether to hike interest rates for the first time in a decade with it widely expected to approve an increase of 0.25%.
