German pitch to lure UK banks
The meeting, the first such gathering of its kind in Germany, is being hosted by financial supervisor Bafin to cope with increasingly detailed inquiries from banks as Britain prepares to trigger EU divorce talks.
“Bafin wants to give the participants an overview of the main issues for those who want to move businesses to Germany after Brexit,” said one of the sources.
The sources said Bafin would make it clear that no “letter-box” operations would be accepted and that banks would have to have significant risk management arrangements and senior executives based in Frankfurt.
Other people said officials from the German central bank and the ECB would also attend. Bafin, which has close ties to the finance ministry, confirmed that the meeting would take place but declined to give further details. The Bundesbank and the ECB declined to comment.
About 40 executives will attend Monday’s gathering, to be held as German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble discreetly starts supporting Frankfurt’s efforts to attract thousands of bankers from London.
Frankfurt looks set to be one of the biggest winners from any exodus from London, with several major investment banks said to be in talks to base employees there.
However the likes of Paris and Dublin are also expected to win some jobs — HSBC has said it will move around 1,000 roles to the French capital — while some US banks may shift some positions back to New York.
Executives, chiefly those in charge of regulatory issues, from banks including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup — which has substantial operations in Ireland — are due to attend the meeting in Bafin’s Frankfurt offices, the sources said. Those banks declined to comment.
