While HSBC’s decision may well have spared the blushes of Prime Minister David Cameron and others promoting the UK’s place on world stage, there remain significant threats ahead – not least the UK’s referendum on EU membership.
Already there have been rumblings of HSBC and others looking to shift jobs outside of the UK should the so-called Brexit happen.
“Banking is an internationally mobile industry and as our recent report on competitiveness showed, a number of push and pull factors are weighing heavily in boardrooms across the sector,” says Anthony Browne, chief executive of the BBA.
“We cannot afford to be complacent about the contribution banking makes to the British economy, a sector that employs over half a million people, with two thirds of those jobs based outside of London.”
From a discretionary manager’s perspective, Ryan Hughes, fund manager at Apollo Multi-Asset Management, says: “The fact that we currently have a strong and stable government that is pro-business is a massive tick in the box for HSBC to stay, and reassurance for other businesses to stay.
“The fly in the ointment is the Brexit potential which creates some uncertainty about businesses wanting to move here in the very short term.
“If that is resolved quickly then London can reassert itself as probably the major city in the world for international businesses to base themselves with all the benefits of government, regulation, currency, time zone and stability.”
Certainly, London must not be complacent and politicians and gatekeepers alike would be wise to now focus their attentions on courting the aforementioned Standard Chartered, which generates around 90% of its profits from Asia, Africa and Middle East – a long way from 1 Basinghall Avenue.
