MILANO – The European Central Bank calls on financial institutions to strengthen themselves in continental Europe, both from the point of view of capital and human resources. A gentle pressing that would follow the surprise to see that, despite Brexit, there was no dreaded emptying of the City of London and the workforce has redistributed relatively little in the Old Continent.
To point out the Frankfurt moral suasion are several bankers and lawyers al Financial Times, which recently carried out a sample survey on the main offices of the banks present in the financial city, finding that the number of employees of the major international banks and managers present in London had grown in the last five years. Where there have been reductions, it has been due to the restructuring plans in place rather than to the transfer to other financial centers.
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According to the financial newspaper, the ECB’s action is primarily aimed at international banks that have historically made London their outpost for operating in Europe. During the Covid crisis, given the undeniable difficulties imposed on the movement, the vigilance did not want to tread too hard with great realism, but now it has returned to ask for tools to manage operations in the Old Continent from different locations. The voices gathered by the FT now speak of an undoubtedly “more rigid” approach than was expected. And they also risk opening a front with the Central Bank of England, which is worried that the reallocation of people and resources will be required not so much for reasons of business fluidity, but to steal business from the British financial center.
The ECB did not comment on the FT report, but the supervisory board member Edouard Fernandez-Bollo he had clearly indicated the line of Frankfurt, just a month ago, saying that the Eurozone does not accept institutions that are in reality just empty shells and that the activities and services that cater to European customers must be predominantly conducted by the EU itself.
While the FT was reporting these developments, from the front of one of the main Italian banks, Unicredit, emerged the transfer of most of the traders based in London to Milan, in a rationalization which, however, would be independent from Brexit and which intends to be a step towards the development of new services for customers. The people involved, according to reports Bloomberg, would be about 50 and Unicredit could also transfer traders to Italy also from the Munich office.
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