Paris says bienvenue to UK firms seeking post-Brexit home

French financial regulators have a simple message for UK-based businesses eyeing a move to the continent after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union: “Come to Paris, we speak English.”

In a clear attempt to lure companies across the Channel, the ACPR financial watchdog and AMF securities regulator announced this week that they were simplifying the often laborious process of registering financial companies "in the context of the Brexit vote".

Officials will accept legal documents in English from EU-registered groups seeking to move to France, saving the trouble and cost of new paperwork. They will even provide English-speaking official to handle applications.

In addition, UK financial companies will be able to secure “pre-authorisation” for a move to France in two weeks – to help them to start finding office space and hiring staff without delay.

Passporting

“[We are] getting ready to welcome British-based institutions that wish to locate their business in France,” the regulators said, pointing to the “consequences” for UK companies that chose to remain based solely in the UK.

Many believe London-based financial groups will be compelled to move staff or even headquarters to the euro zone if the UK loses “passporting” rights. Dublin has been named as a potential beneficiary of such a development.

French regulators stressed the “freedom to provide services” across the EU for UK groups that moved to Paris. Their relaxation of the rules on English language applications is the latest move aimed at attracting groups after the Brexit vote – a strategy in which Paris has been far more aggressive than rivals such as Frankfurt or Dublin.

Despite an ambivalent relationship with high finance, the French government appears to have seized on the idea of attracting finance jobs from London, as domestic economic growth remains stubbornly slow and unemployment above 10 per cent.

Unemployment

"Paris's financial centre is what makes France attractive," said Manuel Valls, French prime minister over the summer. Valérie Pécresse, former budget minister and president of the Paris region, said her enemy was "not finance, but unemployment".

Following the Brexit vote, France announced some of the EU's most generous tax breaks for expatriates. Foreign executives enjoy an income tax break of up to 50 per cent and the right to exclude foreign assets from the wealth tax for eight years. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016)