POLITICO: Paris was on the cusp of becoming the EU’s finance hub. Then came the election.

28 June 2024

The French vote could deal a massive blow to the capital’s post-Brexit ambitions.

President Emmanuel Macron’s shock decision to call an election has led France’s finance industry to fear it might not become Europe’s powerhouse after all. 

If the surprise timing of Macron’s announcement and the jitters it sent through the markets weren't bad enough in creating feelings of unease, industry insiders, feeling betrayed, argue the vote will also hamstring Paris’ ambitions to become the EU’s top finance hub.

“Whatever happens, I think this impact on the image of France as a stable country, and a rational country to do business in is significant,” an asset management lobbyist said to POLITICO, speaking, as with the others in this article, on condition of anonymity because their employers do not comment publicly on the election.

Regardless of the vote’s outcome, “[France's] credibility will be very, very deteriorated,” said a senior staffer at a large French bank.

With the first round of the election taking place on Sunday and a second round scheduled for July 7, the far-right National Rally is way ahead in opinion polls. While Macron would remain president, a rival party in government could wreak havoc for his ability to make policy.

Attractiveness of Paris

Under Macron's leadership, Paris was poised to grab the top spot as the EU’s financial hub that’s been up for grabs since the U.K. left the bloc in 2020.

The French president and his finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, have been vocal in the bloc’s push to create a single market for investment ― a “capital markets union.” What went unsaid was that Paris would claim a large share of the prize if the EU fostered deeper capital markets.  

Macron and Le Maire pushed for faster progress on the project and for centralized supervision of major nonbank actors like asset managers and stock exchanges by the Paris-based EU markets supervisor the European Securities and Markets Authority. 

In parallel, the French government authored a bill to boost the attractiveness of Paris as a financial center...

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