US investment banks still bet on London a year before Brexit

London

A YEAR before Britain is due to leave the European Union, top US investment banks plan to hire far more people in London than anywhere else in Europe, indicating they expect the City will remain their main regional hub, at least in the short term.

When Britain voted to quit the EU in the summer of 2016, analysts predicted a mass exodus of investment banking jobs from London - historically Europe's premier financial hub - to rival centres in continental Europe.

Banks themselves warned that thousands of London-based jobs could be lost or transferred to Europe, and named or started to beef up alternative hubs in cities like Frankfurt and Dublin.

But as confusion reigns over what the trading relationship between Britain and the EU will look like after Brexit Day on March 29, 2019, top banks appear to be keeping plans for large scale recruitment in continental Europe on ice and investing in …