Theresa May courts NY banks and businesses to quell Brexit uncertainty

The Prime Minister met with US banks and leading business chiefs from the technology and retail sectors to reassure them over investing in the country since Britain voted to leave the European Union.

Theresa May, along with foreign secretary Boris Johnson, met the heads of investors who have ploughed money in the country including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, IBM and Amazon, in New York on Monday.

The event was a listening exercise to hear their views on what they thought a post-Brexit Britain should highlight in negotiations with the EU.

US banks are keen to maintain passporting rights which make it easier for financial institutions to conduct business across the EU.

May met with senior bankers including Morgan Stanley’s president, Colm Kelleher, Daniel Pinto, JP Morgan’s investment banking chief, and Harvey Schwartz, chief financial officer of Goldman Sachs, and hosted a function for about 60 senior managers and British businesses with investments in the US.

Executives from AECOM, Merck &Co, Sony Pictures and United Technologies also attended.

The Prime Minister told business leaders in a speech: "Every working day in the United Kingdom one million people wake up and go to work for an American company. And every day in the United States one million people wake up and go to work for a UK company.

"So you see there is reciprocity. The UK is going to be out there. We will be looking ‎for business. And ladies and gentlemen, please feel free to invest in the UK."

The US is the largest single investor in Britain, which draws more foreign direct investment than any other EU country.

Investors have said they would like to know whether the UK would continue to be a member of the single market, as US companies sell to the EU from the UK.

Theresa May, who was in New York to attend the United Nations general assembly, previously said she would not trigger Article 50, the clause that would instigate a formal two-year negotiation with the EU, this year but is expected to trigger it in early 2017, before elections are held in France and Germany.