In my series about the misleading stuff from the Vote Leave bible (HERE) I look back to what they said about various things in order to persuade people to vote to leave the EU. Today I want to look at what they said about the banks. If you want to see for yourself and you have a few days of your life to waste you can find the 1000 page tome, written in 2015 HERE. The helpful Q & A section begins on page 944. Two years on and with the vote in the bag and negotiations underway, we can look back on what was said and compare it with reality.
Q: What would happen to the banks if Britain left the EU?
Mr Elliot's Answer: Financial firms are very unlikely to leave the UK – it should be remembered that similar threats were made in the late 1990s regarding Britain joining the euro. The UK has many qualities that make it appealing, particularly for financial services, and this would remain the case even if Britain left the EU.
What is actually happening?
Global banks have warned they could move thousands of jobs out of Britain to prepare for the expected disruption caused by the country's exit from the European Union, endangering London's status as a major financial centre.
Thirteen major banks have given an indication of how they would bulk up their operations in Europe to secure market access. These plans could see more than 9,000 jobs move to the continent in the next two years. Reuters FactBox May 2017 HERE
Frankfurt and Dublin are said to be the big winners (HERE) and according to a top board member at Germany's central bank 20 big banks have chose Frankfurt as their European hub.
