PARIS: Goldman Sachs is looking at Frankfurt and Paris as bases for its European activities after Britain quits the EU, its chief executive said in a French newspaper interview published on Monday.
Brexit is pushing us to decentralise our activities, Lloyd Blankfein told the daily Le Figaro, after already making similar comments on Twitter.
We'll no longer have just one centre, but two, Frankfurt and Paris, because they are the two biggest European economies, Blankfein said, without providing any indication as to the possible number of jobs involved in any such move.
Paris, Frankfurt and other European cities have been on a charm offensive with global financial giants since the June 2016 Brexit vote, eyeing the additional that jobs will serve European Union clients once Britain leaves the bloc in 2019.
Frankfurt, home to the European Central Bank, already has claimed some major financial players, including US companies Citigroup and Morgan Stanley and Japanese giants Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Daiwa Securities and Nomura.
Goldman Sachs currently employs 6,000 people in Britain and is expected to keep a large presence there after Brexit.
Nevertheless, we'll have more employees on the continent, Blankfein told Le Figaro.
He said some people who wished to would move from London, while the bank also expected to make hires.
Blankfein noted that a lot of Americans would prefer to live in Paris than in Frankfurt.
Last week, Blankfein effusively praised the French capital on Twitter.
"Struck by the positive energy here in Paris," Blankfein tweeted. "Strong govt and biz leaders are committed to economic reform and are well thru the first steps. And the food's good too!"
A source close to the matter had told AFP last week that Goldman Sachs was planning to transfer a large number of traders and bankers from London to Frankfurt and Paris after Britain quits the EU, but did not provide any figures.
Blankfein told Le Figaro that in order to prepare for Brexit everyone needs a script, and quickly.
The EU has given Britain until the beginning of December to make sufficient progress with its 27 other partner countries before the two sides can begin discussing future trade relations.
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