Dublin could capture flow of financial jobs post-Brexit

Dublin's financial services sector could stand to benefit if the UK votes to leave the European Union next month, as Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne warns that "tens of thousands" of jobs in the City could be lost.

Speaking at an audience of business leaders in London, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne warned that a vote to leave the EU could threaten an estimated 285,000 workers in the UK’s financial services industry.

About 100,000 jobs are directly linked to exports to the EU, which has led to the creation of another 185,000 indirect jobs, he said.

“We aren’t just talking about people working in the City of London, but those employed in financial services in towns and cities from Bournemouth to Birmingham to Edinburgh,” he said.

Earlier this year Swiss bank Credit Suisse chose Dublin over London as the hub for the bank's prime services business in Europe.

Mr Osborne acknowledged that next month’s referendum on leaving the European Union had caused businesses to delay investment in the UK, but said that money would come back in -- so long as people vote to stay in the bloc.

“There will be quite a strong snap back,” Osborne told an audience of business leaders in London on Monday. “Decisions that have been delayed will go ahead, and you will see investment flowing into the country. If we vote to leave, those delayed decisions will be canceled.”

(Additional reporting Bloomberg)