The City of London’s ‘Golden Age’ as Europe’s financial capital is over following Brexit, but it will remain a major and profitable center, NatWest (NWG.L) bank Chairman Howard Davies said Tuesday.
The City has been largely cut off from the EU since Britain’s full departure on 31 December 2020, with bankers and City officials not expecting any direct access to the EU bloc anytime soon.
“Almost five years after the Brexit referendum, and five months after Britain’s exit from the European Union, the future of London as a global financial center seems secure,” Mr. Davies wrote in an op-ed for Project Syndicate Tuesday.
“But although the City will remain Europe’s largest financial marketplace, its Golden Age as Europe’s financial capital is over,” said Mr. Davies, a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and Chairman of the UK Financial Services Authority.
NatWest, formerly Royal Bank of Scotland, has pared its overseas operations since its balance sheet ballooned to bigger than the size of the UK economy before requiring a government bailout in Y 2008 during the financial crisis.
But its very small investment bank NatWest Markets retains a presence in the Eurozone in Amsterdam, which the bank bulked up ahead of BREXIT.
Have a healthy day, Keep the Faith!
