Paris Delegates Make Bid To Attract Leading City Fintech Firms After Brexit

Paris Delegates Make Bid To Attract Leading City Fintech Firms After Brexit
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Paris delegates are back in London this week in the hope of luring some of the City's leading fintech firms to the French capital after Brexit.

Ile de France vice president Othman Nasrou - who is in charge of international affairs and tourism for the Paris region - arrived in London on Sunday night ahead of key meetings with fintech companies and "a few financial institutions" to be held on Monday and Tuesday.

Mr Nasrou will "present all the opportunities and assets, the offerings and the reasons to choose (the) Paris Region" as a new EU home base after Brexit, the Ile de France office said.

It is the latest sign that Paris is ramping up its charm offensive on City firms in hopes of attracting businesses worried about losing access to the single market in financial services after Britain leaves the European Union.

Mr Nasrou's meetings come only six weeks after Ile de France president Valerie Pecresse last visited London with similar intentions.

She was among a group of Parisian politicians and business groups that hosted more than 60 representatives from UK-based banks, fund managers and insurance firms in the Shard in hopes of drawing more financial firms to London.

Defacto - the local authority responsible for managing France's business district in the west of Paris - told the Press Association earlier this month that it was charging ahead with plans to build seven new skyscrapers, but was already in a position to accommodate 20,000 additional workers.

"A lot of new companies are arriving in the business district from France and from abroad and what we believe is that Brexit will accelerate that good tendency," said Defacto boss Marie-Celie Guillaume.

However, experts widely believe that Frankfurt will be the main beneficiary of a post-Brexit exodus considering factors like the strength of its economy within the Eurozone, and the reputation of its financial regulator BaFin.

BaFin hosted around 50 representatives from more than 20 banks in Frankfurt in January for an invite-only workshop which provided guidelines for setting up shop in the country after Britain leaves the EU.

German authorities have been clear that any organisation looking to make the move would have to establish a full team and meet German standards on solvency, liquidity and risk management.

Ireland's minister responsible for promoting Dublin as a financial centre has reportedly fielded complaints to European Commission officials over the "aggressive" tactics of other rival cities which he claims are offering lax regulation to undercut the competition.

Dublin is among a number of cities considered still in the running to attract financial services, alongside Luxembourg, Madrid and Amsterdam.