21 October 2019

Financial Times: Citi’s European chief signals confidence in London after Brexit

David Livingstone, who in February took over as chief executive of the bank in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said that London would continue to benefit from its “unique timezone [and] the rule of law”, as well as “huge support mechanisms” such as an abundance of professional services firms.

“All these things . . . contribute to what makes a vibrant financial capital, and London isn’t going to lose any of that,” Mr Livingstone said in an interview with the Financial Times. [...]

However, he said that, over time, it was inevitable that banks’ eurozone entities would end up shouldering a greater burden of financing and trading, which would cut into London’s dominance without overtaking it.

“There is a degree of EU sovereignty about this . . . they want the euro market to be located within the eurozone,” Mr Livingstone said. “So, sure, there’ll be business which leaves London, but I don’t think London fundamentally changes as the regional financial centre.”

Mr Livingstone dismissed the idea that the UK would go into a recession after Brexit, insisting that any devaluation in the pound would make exports more competitive and encourage foreign investment.

He also played down the impact of Brexit on Citi, arguing that while the bank would incur additional costs in Europe because of a “degree of duplication” these would be “manageable” and did not represent a “material item dilutive to overall returns”.

Citi is well placed for Brexit compared to many peers, as it already operates a network of licensed subsidiaries and branches in Ireland and on the continent.

However, Brexit has cost the bank more than $100m so far. The US lender is creating as many as 200 new positions across its three main hubs in Dublin, Frankfurt and Paris, where it is looking for a bigger office after traders lobbied to move there rather than Germany. [...]

Full article on Financial Times (subscription required)

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