Frankfurt in Brexit grab: Leader claims 40 banks are moving from UK because of EU divorce

But his comments caused confusion amongst officials,
with some backing the leader's figure and others
saying the number would be considerably smaller.
Volker Bouffier, the Minister President for Hesse, made
the remarkable claim during an interview with Starkes
Land Hessen, a magazine supplement for Der Spiegal.
In his interview, published last weekend, he said: "We
have some 40 financial institutions and banks that are
going to move over here partly or entirely as a result
of this Brexit discussion."
That number is considerably more than previously
predicted by Germany's minister of economics Tarek
Al-Wazir, who just weeks ago told the same
newspaper that 15 UK-based banks had committed to
"creating or expanding their European operations in
Frankfurt".
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And Lucia Puttrich, the Hessian Minister for Federal
and European Affairs, who is handling the Brexit
transition for the state, said she would be "very
surprised" if that Mr Al-Wazir's figures had changed,
when she was asked about Mr Bouffier's comments.
The Hessian Ministry of Economics declined to
comment on the Minister President's numbers, Echo
Online reported, but said: "A number of decisions have
indeed been made in recent weeks.”
But financial group Frankfurt Main Finance said theMr
Bouffier's claim was "absolutely correct".
The organisation's chief executive Hubertus Väth said
larger institutes will have organised arrangements for
European departments to relocate fully to Frankfurt by
the end of 2017.
Some analysts believe the City of London is facing an
banking exodus after Brexit
He added: "In about 20 cases, new institutes will be
set up here."
The claims come as EU member states scrap over
certain London-based European institutes that will
have to relocate back into the bloc after Brexit.
Ministers have been accused of holding a Eurovison-
style competition over where the European Medicines
Agency and European Banking Authority should move
to once Britain withdraws.
Member states put forward wildly different proposals
and priorities for why the institutions should move to
their financial districts.
Some complained bitterly about the criteria for the
move, effectively shutting them out of the race, whilst
others dismissed rival European capitals as places the
prospective staff wouldn’t want to live.
The Frankfurt leader's numbers have been backed by
some but refuted by others
Earlier this week Denmark made a move on EU
nationals living in the UK, trying to entice skilled
workers to Copenhagen with the promise of good
salaries at top Danish companies like Lego and Bang
and Olufsen.
Meanwhile Howard Davies, who leads the Royal Bank
of Scotland Group, said that the EU was deliberately
dragging out Brexit talks to entice anxious bankers.
The banking chief warned that a Brexit transition deal
needs to be in place by early next year - or else, the
country faces an unprecedented loss of businesses.

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