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Britain’s Financial Power Is Already Seeping Away
The ECB is making a bid for authority over euro clearing, while banks press ahead with plans to relocate jobs to Frankfurt.
A bridge in the Canary Wharf business and shopping district in London on May 17, 2017.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Britain’s financial power began ebbing away just days into the Brexit negotiations as the European Central Bank sought authority over a key market and banks from Morgan Stanley to Nomura Holdings Inc. fleshed out plans to move operations from London to Frankfurt.
The shifts underscore the threat posed to the U.K.’s financial industry by the decision to quit the European Union, made in a referendum a year ago. They will intensify pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May to safeguard the City of London in any trade deal she strikes with her EU counterparts, who may resist if they see an economic advantage for themselves.