UK's Osborne to urge U.S. investors to stick with Britain outside EU

British finance minister George Osborne will meet some of Wall Street's biggest investors in New York on Monday to urge them to stick with Britain despite last month's vote to leave the European Union, his office said.

The vote for Brexit has pushed the pound to 31-year lows against the dollar and left many investors warning that Britain, until this month the world's fifth largest economy, faces years of uncertainty over everything from trade relations to investment.

"While Britain's decision to leave the EU clearly presents economic challenges, we now have to do everything we can to make the UK the most attractive place in the world to do business," Osborne, who backed staying in the EU, said in a statement.

 

"Pursuing a stronger relationship with our biggest trading partners is now a top priority ... my message to the world is that Britain may be leaving the EU but we are not quitting the world.? We will continue to be a beacon for free trade, democracy and security, more open to that world than ever."

At a meeting with Osborne last week, five U.S. investment banks promised that they would try to help London keep its top spot as an international financial centre.

Last month's vote has forced Britain, which has negotiated its trade deals through the EU for decades, to rethink its ties with the rest of the world.

Osborne's visit to New York will be the first of a series of trade missions to key global financial and political centres, including Singapore and China later this month, his office said.

He is also due later this week to meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in London and hold talks with other EU members' finance ministers in Brussels.

Last week UK Business Secretary Sajid Javid began preliminary talks with India about a bilateral trade deal, and Osborne met senior officials from China, agreeing to work to foster stronger ties between the two countries.