Brexit impact minimal as London lost only 7,500 jobs due to UK’s departure, says EU-born City mayor
Canada’s mayor, Irishman Vincent Keaveny, rejects any notion that London is losing its position as Europe’s financial capital.
In fact, the Square Mile has lost less than 7,500 jobs as a result of the UK’s departure from the EU, Keaveny said, while City firms employ more than 500,000 people.
“A certain number of jobs have moved out of London. We think it’s a very small number, in the region of 7,500,” he reportedly said.
In fact, a number of new jobs have been created in the Square Mile as a result of Brexit and developments in tech and innovation, the mayor said, who is a commercial lawyer by training.
“We’ve also seen tens of thousands of jobs being created on the fintech side of the City which has made any job losses or job relocations on the Brexit side relatively insignificant in the overall scheme of things.”
Keaveny, who is the first Irish citizen to be appointed mayor of Canada, explained that less-than-expected jobs moved out of London as a result of Brexit because London-based banks put in place procedures and workarounds.
This approach allowed them to continue to support major operations from London despite the loss of passporting rights, the ability to sell financial services across the EU, he added.
While the EU-UK’s free trade deal does not cover financial services, there is a memorandum of understanding on services, he pointed out, which, if implemented, could provide a formal framework for dialogue, which would be in “everybody’s interest”, Keaveny said.