City of London to lose 5,000 jobs due to Brexit: UK Treasury Economic Secretary

The City of London, the major financial district of the United Kingdom capital, may lose 5,000 jobs by late March 2019, when the UK is set to withdraw from the European Union, John Glen, the Economic Secretary to the UK treasury, said on Wednesday.

"I think I would lean on the wisdom of Sam Woods, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, who estimates that there will be 5,000 jobs that have moved," he said at the meeting of the EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee of the UK Parliament upper house when asked to give his assessment on the number of jobs that might move to continental Europe because of Brexit.

Glen, however, pledged to "ensure as much continuity as possible with respect of the economic value that is able to be generated by the City." The minister also voiced doubt that any other country might "replicate overnight" the unique system of the City. He emphasised the need for a "strong enduring bilateral relationship" with the bloc regardless of the Brexit terms.

In July, Catherine McGuinness, the chairperson of the policy and resources committee of the City of London, said that the UK financial sector could lose up to 12,000 jobs because many financial companies were relocating their businesses to the European Union.