City of London cuts post-Brexit job loss forecast

The UK’s financial services sector could lose 5,000 jobs after Brexit, lower than earlier forecasts, London’s Lord Mayor said on Wednesday.

Commenting on figures from an internal City of London Corporation report to be released in September, Mayor Charles Bowman said figures suggest that between 5,000 and 13,000 jobs will be lost by the time the UK leaves the EU on 30 May next year.

The new figures are significantly lower than 2016 estimates from consultancy Oliver Wyman which forecast the loss of up to 75,000 jobs, while Xavier Rolet, the former chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, claimed more than 200,000 jobs could be axed.

Bowman told Politico in an interview that he is confident that such a deal is already all but in place "barring dotting of i's and crossing of t's".

The news comes just a week after foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt warned the EU that it could be harmed by a "no deal Brexit by accident" due to the continents reliance on London’s financial services.

"If it became harder for European businesses to access finance, that is far from trivial. The City itself would find a way to thrive, whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations," said Hunt.