French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe today laid out a raft of measures aimed at boosting Paris's attractiveness to high finance to cash in on Britain's exit from the European Union.
Among them are scrapping a plan to widen a current 0.3 percent tax on financial transactions, eliminating the top income tax bracket, and keeping bonuses out of the calculation of severance pay for "risk-takers" such as stockbrokers.
"You can regret this (Brexit) decision or welcome it, but it's a fact," said Philippe, speaking on the roof of the Monnaie de Paris -- the national mint -- with the city's glass-and-steel La Defense financial district visible in the distance. "You have to deal with it."
In another step aimed at attracting foreign businesses, the Paris area is to open three international high schools by 2022 in addition to the existing six.
Philippe also announced that work had begun to establish an international tribunal in Paris to handle financial cases in English.
Most international financial contracts are written in English and make reference to British law.
Also in the pipeline is the "CDG Express", a rail line linking Charles de Gaulle airport to the city.
French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to relax France's rigid labour laws to free its economy from red tape and excessive taxation.
The French financial sector currently represents about 4.5 per cent of national output and employs around 800,000 people.
Paris is competing with Dublin, Frankfurt and other centres for an expected shift in finance jobs out of London as a result of Brexit.
Several banks, especially Asian institutions, have recently announced that they would move European headquarters from London to Frankfurt in response to Brexit.
Bloomberg News said yesterday it would move investment banking activities from London to its Frankfurt headquarters.
So far Brexit has had a limited impact in Paris, apart from banking giant HSBC's decision to relocate 1,000 employees from London to the French capital. JP Morgan Chase, for its part, is moving to Dublin, Frankfurt and Luxembourg.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
