Paris eyes luring 20,000 bankers from London amid Brexit rupture

(Jan 3): Paris could lure as many as 20,000 workers from Britain’s finance industry with the exodus potentially starting within weeks as the UK begins its withdrawal from the European Union, according to Europlace, the French capital’s lobby group.

Paris will make its case to London-based executives in a series of February meetings as it competes for talent with rival cities such as Frankfurt. Europlace’s marketing materials show it will extol how Paris already employs more than 180,000 financiers, is home to the region’s biggest bond market and boasts the second-largest pool of asset managers.

The continental race to take advantage of Brexit is heating up as British Prime Minister Theresa May plans to trigger the start of negotiations by the end of March. Global bank chiefs have warned May that they will soon start shifting operations and jobs from the UK to elsewhere in the EU unless she can protect their easy access to its market.

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