French bankers pledge 1,000 post-Brexit jobs in Paris

French bankers pledged to create 1,000 jobs in Paris as part of a plan to shift their operations out of London once Britain leaves the European Union, following a meeting with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.

President Emmanuel Macron’s government has already announced plans to cut payroll tax and cancel a planned extension of tax on share trading, measures that French banks had lobbied for.

“About a thousand jobs could be concerned, which could have a knock-on effect of at least three indirect jobs for each direct job,” the French banking federation said in a statement.

However, it was not immediately clear whether those measures have had any effect on bank relocation plans that could have been laid out earlier. Despite efforts to attract London banks after Brexit, international banks so far have mostly chosen Frankfurt as their EU hub.

Le Maire met the head of the French central bank, Villeroy de Galhau, and executives of BNP Paribas, BPCE, SocGen, Credit Agricole, Credit Mutuel, Banque Postale.

The finance minister’s office said the group had also discussed banking regulation.

“Bruno Le Maire mentioned his concern that these (banking regulation) negotiations should lead to a compromise that guarantees both financial stability and the good financing of the European economy,” the statement said.

Source: Reuters