Japanese banks warn that they will pull out of London if there is no clarity over Brexit

Japanese banks have warned that unless they receive clarity over the terms of Brexit they will begin relocating crucial services to mainland Europe within 6 months. Executives from Japanese groups including investment banks Nomura and Daiwa Capital Markets set out their position at a “frank” meeting with the UK City minister, Simon Kirby and international trade minister, Mark Garnier. One senior executive of a big Japanese bank said that it “would be better for our EU-based customers to have an alternative hub” as London could no longer guarantee free market access to the rest of the EU. Philip Hammond, British Chancellor of the Exchequer attended Tokyo this week and met with senior managers of Japanese financial groups in which they repeated fears about market access, euro clearing and access to European labour markets.