Helaba Financial Centre Study "Brexit - Let's go Frankfurt"

FRANKFURT, Germany, November 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Frankfurt the preferred destination for Brexit-induced job relocation 

Forecast for banking sector employment 2018: Stable at around 62,000 jobs 

In a comparison of European financial centres, Frankfurt clearly ranks in second place behind London. With numerous qualities in its favour, the German banking centre is an attractive location for domestic and international players in the financial sector and has the potential of becoming the preferred destination for Brexit-related job relocations. The following assets that Frankfurt possesses are of particular benefit: The stability and strength of the German economy, the headquarters of the ECB in its dual function, a transportation hub with a good level of infrastructure, relatively low office rents as well as a high quality of life. This is the conclusion that Helaba's economists arrived at in their Financial Centre Study "Brexit - Let's go Frankfurt". But it has serious competition in the shape of Paris, Dublin, Luxemburg or even Amsterdam.

Dr. Gertrud Traud, Helaba's Chief Economist and Head of Research, stresses: "If Frankfurt really is to become the principal winner of Brexit, it will require a concerted effort on regional, national and European levels as well as a more self-confident approach."

In addition, a further improvement in the conditions offered by the city is essential to ensure its success. In view of Frankfurt's excellent position in the framework of European financial centres, demonstrated by various studies, Helaba's economists believe that it has good chances of picking up at least half the jobs in the financial sector that will be shifted from London to Frankfurt in a restructuring process lasting many years. Thus, Frankfurt now faces the task of putting the necessary prerequisites in place, e.g. in the housing market. Based on very cautious assumptions, a total of at least 8,000 employees would come to Frankfurt over a multi-year period. Since companies cannot wait for the outcome of negotiations, more than 2,000 jobs are expected to be relocated by as early as the end of 2018 already.

"This Brexit-induced effect on the labour market will act as a counterbalance to consolidation in local banks", says the author of the study, Ulrike Bischoff. Both effects should, more or less, cancel each other out within the forecasting window. By the end of 2018, the study anticipates a total of just over 62,000 bank employees in the German financial centre.

You can find the complete study as a download at http://volkswirtschaft.helaba.de

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Wolfgang Kuss    
E-Mail: wolfgang.kuss@helaba.de

Ursula-Brita Krück
E-Mail: ursula-brita.krueck@helaba.de