Emmanuel Macron bids to lure City bankers to Paris after sweeping to victory in French presidential race

French president-elect Emmanuel Macron with current premier Francois Hollande at a ceremony to mark Victory Day in Paris
EPA

The Square Mile was today in the “cross-hairs” of French business chiefs as they sought to lure City bankers to Paris after Emmanuel Macron swept to victory in the French presidential race.

They believe global banks and other financial institutions in London will now start to move jobs across the Channel after the threat of Far Right leader Marine Le Pen gaining the keys to the Elysee Palace was crushed.

“The next decade will be a French decade,” Arnaud de Bresson, chief executive of Paris EUROPLACE which promotes the French capital’s financial sector.

He believes 10,000 bankers, fund managers and other executives directly employed in the City will move from London to Paris.

While a further 10,000 “indirect” jobs in the Square Mile, such as lawyers, accountants and IT specialists will be relocated to the French capital.

New leader: French President-elect Emmanuel Macron during a victory celebration at the Louvre
AP

Appealing to French citizens in London, he added: “Now is the time to come back and develop new innovative activities in France and benefit from a more business-friendly environment.”

Mr Macron has pledged radical reforms to shake up France’s sclerotic labour laws, more flexibility in work hours and to inject dynamism into the French economy.

French business chiefs are seeking to lure City bankers to Paris
Getty

As a mood of optimism swept Paris, Jean-Louis Missika, the city’s deputy mayor in charge of economic development, said: “Mr Macron will make France a world platform for start-uppers, researchers, the innovation economy and fintech.

“Now we have the (election) result, so more companies will start to move activities and people to Paris.

“It’s possible for all these companies, big or small, to have a foot in London and a foot in Paris because the relationship between the two cities will be more and more tied and important.”

In a message to French citizens in London, he added: “Mr Macron understands very well their needs and their hopes.

Supporters of Emmanuel Macron celebrate after the second round of 2017 French presidential election
REUTERS

“Of course with Brexit and Mrs May (Prime Minister) in Britain and Mr Macron elected in France, we hope they change their minds and come back to France.”

The French business chiefs insisted that London and Paris could both prosper in a partnership in the Macron era.

However, David Buik, market commentator at City brokers Panmure Gordon, said: “It’s an absolute shocker for the City, he’s got us in his sights, we are in the cross-hairs.”

“He came over here....talking to French people and saying ‘we’ll have you back.’”

Former Rothschild banker Mr Macron, 39, addressed thousands of French voters in February at a packed-out rally in Westminster’s Central Hall in February.

Speaking on the steps of No10 after holding talks with Theresa May, he brazenly stressed how he had spoken to academic and researchers in Britain who were considering leaving for France because of Brexit, adding: “

“It will be part of my programme to be attractive for these kinds of people.

“I want banks, talents, researchers, academics and so on.”

However, City figures believe it would be hard for Paris to compete in the short-term because it is not set up to be a global financial centre on the scale of London.

Nicholas Brooks, Head of Economic and Investment Research at asset managers Intermediate Capital Group, said: ”Macron will be constrained by existing labour laws in France and by infrastructure constraints in Paris if he is trying to develop it into the next London.

"He will push to make Paris more attractive but there are limits on how far he can go with that.”

Jean Pisani-Ferry, chief economic adviser to Mr Macron, emphasised that the president-elect did not want to see a hard Brexit but insisted he would be “tough” in negotiations.

He said: “There is a mutual interest in keeping prosperity that exists, that has been built over the years from lots of economic and various relationships.

“So we have to keep all that, at the same time we have divergent interests on some aspects of the negotiation, so there will be a tough negotiation and he (Macron) will be tough.”

Mr Macron’s main challenge will now be to build a majority from scratch in the Paris National Assembly, during parliamentary elections in June.

Today he was due to commemorate Victory-in-Europe Day at the Arc de Triomphe in central Paris, where he will remember the fallen from World War II alongside outgoing head of state Socialist Francois Hollande.

Last night, Mr Macron achieved a resounding 66 per cent election landslide that ended any hopes of power for the nationalist firebrand Marine Le Pen, 48, and her National Front party.

Speaking by the Louvre in Paris, he sought to unite his bitterly-split nation.

“I understand the divisions of our country that have led some to vote for extremists,” he said.

“I understand the anger, the anxiety, the doubts that a great part among us have also expressed.”

Sylvie Goulard, Mr Macron’s right-hand woman, also stressed he would “defend the interests of the EU”.

Ms Goulard, an influential centrist French MEP tipped for a leading role in the Macron Cabinet, warned that there would be no cherry-picking but that the new Macron government will come to the talks “in a constructive spirit”.

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