France upgrades efforts to lure bankers to Paris post-Brexit

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has upgraded the country’s push to lure UK-based bankers to Paris post-Brexit.

French moves intended to attract expat financial professionals from the City of London to Paris began last year with President Macron’s cutting of the wealth tax and loosening of France’s tough labour laws. The latest offers include a scheme to allow expatriates working in France to opt out of the country’s compulsory state pension scheme contributions. Deductions make up around 2.3 per cent of each employee’s gross salary, representing a small amount for regular workers but considerably more when calculated on the average banker’s salary including bonuses.

Philippe also told investors some 1,000 places would be made available at the capital’s top multilingual schools, with three more international schools to be built by 2021. In addition, the government will be ready, able and willing to deal with disputes arising due to expats’ financial contracts being governed by British law. To expedite solutions to this issue, special international sections will be added to the Paris Commercial Court and the Paris Court of Appeal, according to a statement by the financial lobby Paris Europlace.

In a statement issued Monday, the financial lobby’s head Gerard Mestrallet said the city’s financial centre has a strong momentum with which to welcome international investors and financial companies wishing to help strengthen Paris’s position in Europe after Brexit is finalised. President Macron explained the reforms using the English language during lunch at a major summit held at Versailles and attended by 140 global CEOs including JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs’ Lloyd Blankfein.