For years, London has been considered the financial center of Europe. In a post-Brexit world, however, Paris is seeking to steal that title by drawing British expatriates to France.
In early July, Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced that French leadership wants to “build the financial capital of the future,” according to France 24, telling press conference attendees that “now is the time to come to France.”
Valls said that a major selling point for London-based finance companies to move to the continent would be new tax schemes designed to be more attractive to expatriates. Administrative processes for moving financial companies from the U.K. to Paris would be streamlined as well, the source noted.
Lobbyists also want to reduce the tax France places on financial workers, Reuters explained. The tax was originally imposed to make up for the lack of a value-added tax to which other industries are subject.
According to a Pamela Druckerman column in The New York Times, there are more than 700,000 finance jobs in London, and the city is also the major European center for hedge funds, private-equity firms and foreign-exchange trading.
