French finance minister looks to ‘take advantage of Brexit’ and lure firms to Paris
France’s finance minister has warned Britain it will look to “take advantage of Brexit” and lure finance firms away from London, to Paris.
Comments made by Bruno Le Maire will annoy finance bosses in London as the City looks to hold on to its crown for the services sector.
In his New Year’s address, the French minister said his government would put forward proposals which tempt companies onto the continent’s second-largest euro-using economy, after Germany.
“We were able to take advantage of Brexit to attract the world’s biggest financial establishments to Paris,” Le Maire said today.
“To strengthen this position, a bill on financial attractiveness will be presented to parliament in spring.”
Speaking to business leaders, the minister said he hoped the economy would continue to grow this year and that inflation would fall back below three per cent, by June.
Bruno Le Maire has been on the offensive to draw firms to Paris, last month travelling to New York in a plea to business leaders. According to Politico, last month the French government official said Le Maire “will go further with reforms” and has a “legislative or regulatory initiative for 2024”, to coax businesses over.
The figure released on Friday was up from the 2.4 per cent annual inflation recorded in November – but well down from the peak of 10.6 per cent in October 2022.
This morning it was reported that finance chiefs at Britain’s largest firms have shown increased confidence in the UK economy as their concern shifts away from inflation and high interest rates to geopolitical risks and the UK’s low productivity.
Last week, the UK’s service sector posted its best performance in six months in December as hopes of lower borrowing costs in 2024 helped demand to recover.
However, London has been struggling to attract and maintain listings on its public markets. Today, the Treasury was also facing calls to convene an emergency meeting of top City institutions to try and stem the flood of firms away from London’s public markets.
A top City broker even suggested the UK government should grant itself powers to step in and block some companies from floating overseas or force them into dual listings in London.