Where Will All The Bankers Go?

Where Will All The Bankers Go?

9:42 AM, 19th January 2017, About 7 years ago 8

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Where Will All The Bankers Go

Following Theresa May’s speech yesterday the pound very quickly gained against the Euro. However, within hours both HSBC and UBS announced they would each be relocating 1,000 of their highest paid bankers to Europe. The BBC reported this would put further pressure on The Treasury due to the loss of income tax receipts. This didn’t have an adverse effect on currency though.

My question is this; will those bankers really move abroad just because their employers want them to?

Based on my own experiences I’m far from convinced they will want to go.

How is this any different to the landlords I speak to who love the idea of living in a Tax Haven, as I do in Malta, but don’t actually do it?

People have ties; kids in school and University, friends, social groups, elderly family etc.

Will these wealthy bankers actually move? Well some might but I suspect the other banks will snap them up if they’re as good as their salaries imply. If not they will probably just take early retirement or seek consultancy work. In the 90’s, many of the redundant bankers set up commercial finance brokerages. I know this because I sold franchises to several of them.

Have you noticed that every time our economy moves forward there seems to be an opposing set-back?

The conspiracy theorists (me included) might just see this as a bit more than just coincidence.

What are your thoughts?


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Comments

Neil Patterson

10:09 AM, 19th January 2017, About 7 years ago

It is the job roles that are supposedly going to be moved to Germany not necessarily all of the employees. As you say some will stay and find other positions, but the country would lose 2,000 highly paid/tax paying jobs abroad.

HSBC and UBS were the first to threaten this due to the fear of financial services not being "Passported" and allowed to operate freely around Europe. It is TMs confirmation that we will not be "in" the single market that these two in particular have got the hump with (don't rule out this being a political message).

This will happen to other Euro based banking roles dependent on the terms of financial services access to Europe.

That doesn't mean it is impossible we won't create Financial Services jobs dependent on other trade agreements around the world, but we know we will be losing some.

Sterling recovered because the markets prefer certainty, good or bad, over uncertainty of the future economic environment even though the IMF downgraded 2018 UK forecasts.

Economics is like nature in that for every stimulus given there is almost always an opposite reaction somewhere else. 2 steps forward 1 step back. You just have to try to go forwards more than you go backwards.

H B

12:23 PM, 19th January 2017, About 7 years ago

It is not clear what level these roles are at. They may be more junior roles.

Either way, if they decide to relocate the bankers can either move or accept redundancy.

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

13:43 PM, 19th January 2017, About 7 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "H B" at "19/01/2017 - 12:23":

It was confirmed these are all high paid senior roles, hence the pressure exerted on The Treasury in terms of loss of significant tax revenue.
.

Sean Graveney

13:45 PM, 19th January 2017, About 7 years ago

Goldman Sachs now saying they'll be moving 3000. That's a big reduction in money sloshing about London...

Michael Holmes

0:23 AM, 21st January 2017, About 7 years ago

Oh Dear,

HSBC is going to move to Frankfurt or Paris, five minutes ago they were thinking about a move back to Hong Kong! Purlease...do us all a favour and just go! I seem to remember we taxpayers had to bail out the banks for billions a couple of years ago, not much of that will ever be re-patriated to the treasury methinks. Of course this little tantrum is political, The boards of these banks still don't get Brexit. The opportunities we can gain through our new-found freedoms far outway the losses from being stuck in crumbling empire.

Ian Ringrose

15:44 PM, 21st January 2017, About 7 years ago

A large number of top engineering and science graduates (and PHds) go to work for investment banks due to the high salary.
These bankers do not create much employment for normal people they also do make anything worthwhile as they just move numbers between accounts.
When top engineering and science graduates (and PHds) go to work for manufacturing companies instead, it often result in new products that create lots of jobs and are exported.

Therefore I question if a down turn in employment in the City of London is such a bad thing for the rest of the UK……

Jay James

18:23 PM, 21st January 2017, About 7 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Ian Ringrose" at "21/01/2017 - 15:44":

Brilliant Mr Ringrose. Brilliant. Every voter should spend a few minutes thinking about that.

david porter

19:45 PM, 21st January 2017, About 7 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Neil Patterson" at "19/01/2017 - 10:09":

There is a wealth tax in France. How many HNW employees will go there?

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