Europe just can’t go it alone post-Brexit

When it comes to capital markets, the EU needs the City of London. Jonathan Faull and Simon Gleeson argue that formal, institutionalised cooperation is imperative after Britain departs

City of London traders: without London, the EU can probably forget about creating a capital market to compete with New York or Tokyo Pic: Bloomberg

When Britain eventually leaves the European Union – assuming it does – it will take Europe’s biggest capital market with it. The loss of the City of London could drive the EU’s 27 remaining members to pursue an inward-looking strategy for managing their capital markets.

But, as we argue in a new policy brief for the Centre for European Reform, the EU27 would be far better off keeping those markets open to – ...