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The comments by Nobuyuki Hirano, chief executive of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, come just 10 days after the Japanese government published a detailed and uncharacteristically blunt critique of Brexit that warned of the “sense of anxiety” it had unleashed and Britain’s need to “regain the confidence of the world”.
Mr Hirano warned of fallout for the bank’s London operations if UK-based companies lose the right to sell financial services across Europe. His comments underline corporate Japan’s concerns about the free movement of professionals across Europe and the potential impact of tariffs on Japanese exporters based in the UK.
His warnings add weight to Japan’s official message, which was produced by a task force of government and private sector contributors and showed that Japanese businesses have created 440,000 jobs in Europe, much of them concentrated in the UK.
Nearly half of Japanese direct investment into the EU last year, according to the document, flowed to the UK on the understanding the country would be a “gateway to Europe”.
Mr Hirano’s remarks echo the private fretting among Japan’s big banks and security houses. In public, most have said they are “studying the situation”. In reality, say people familiar with the situation, they have already begun preparations to establish hubs in European cities beyond London.
Japan has urged the UK to negotiate the softest of exits from the EU or risk the departure of banks and other companies for the continent.
Mr Hirano said that while the bank has no current plan to relocate its European footprint from London “depending on all these issues we need to be ready, and fully explore the different options”.
The bank will be forced to seek an EU base for its London securities business if this operation loses European “passporting rights”, Mr Hirano said. MUFG may also require euro-denominated booking capability in continental Europe.
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