The UK is losing its banking professionals. The highest-paid employees start leaving the country before Brexit.
Experts attribute a mass exodus of bankers to serious changes in Europe's financial sector and its tax base after the UK exits the European Union. According to the European Banking Authority, about a hundred of the highest-paid bankers have departed the country by now. Notably, the United Kingdom accounts for 71% of the European 4,963 banking professionals. So far, London has been Europe's largest financial center. Totally 380,000 people work in the British banking sector.
The country officially left the EU in December 2020. By that time, many banks and other financial institutions had transferred over 7,000 employees from London to other EU countries to provide their clients with full access to the EU financial market. The European Banking Authority reported that the number of high-paid employees rose from 450 to 492 in Germany, from 234 to 270 in France and from 206 to 241 in Italy.
Notably, in 2014, the EU limited bankers' bonuses to their base double salary. The UK had opposed that measure, but it had been in force even after Brexit. The UK exit deal also had a negative influence on business managers for its highly problematic implementation.
