IBF042016__

Frankfurt Survey Brexit
02. The British have unfortunately bowed
out ofaconstructive debate on concepts
of freedom of movementinEurope.
The British financial institutions
will thereforeprobably nothave
full access to the internal market so
long as the British do not accept the
existing free movement regulations
of the EU. Because this remains unlikely,
Frankfurt will tend to benefit
from the transfer of some functions
from London.
03. It is likely that not all that much will
changeinthe goods and service provision
industries. Herethereisamutual
interest in free exchange. Although
there will be no exclusion of British
providers from theinternal market, it
is likely that in future, in some fields
of access, suchaspubliccalls fortenders,
opportunities on the continent
will be worse than fordomesticcompanies,
duetothe greaterinstitutional
distance of theUK.
04. Theremust be abalanced mixtureof
rules that encourages commercial exchange,
butalso makes clear thevalue
of membership in theclub of internal
marketmembers.
05. For nowthe European Unionwilltake
abreak on its journey toward more
and moreintegration. The tasks of the
Commission arenevertheless important;after
all, it organises thecentrepiece
of European integration, theinternal
market, which still represents
thebiggest success in economicintegration
inmodern economic history.
The members of themonetary union
must howevercarry on travelling the
path of integration. The presentbreak
should be used above all for adebate
with the citizens about the mechanisms
of European integration. There
is alot of consenttoEuropean integration,
butpeople want to knowwhereit
is headed.
Wolfgang Kirsch,CEO DZ Bank
01. The decision of the British has been
made,and it has come aboutinademocratic
process. We have to respect
this, even if, in the end, Iregard it as
»The clearmarketorientedfocus
of
theBritish will be
missing from the
economicpolicy
debate in the
European Union.«
ULRICH KATER, DEKABANK
an enormous blunder. Itremains to
be seen what will nowhappen in concrete
terms and over what period of
time. After all, 80,000 pages ofcontractual
documents between the EU
and theUKwill have to be altered. The
financial location of Frankfurt will
certainly be able to take on more responsibilityasthe
future most important
financial centreofthe European
Union, and must do so. Incompetition
with other locations, Frankfurt
has weighty arguments on its side,
notleast of whichisits role as thesite
of European monetary policy and financial
supervision. If morebusiness
is brought over here, that is of course
gratifying forthe location, butIwould
warn against toomucheuphoria. Because
on the bottom line, Brexit is a
loss forEurope.
02. Our London branch primarily accompanies
German companies to theUK,
whichisnot fundamentally called into
question by Brexit. Neither do we have
anysignificantpound exposure. In the
end, however, alot depends on how
strongly our German domestic marketisaffected
by Brexit.
03. In the current phase, tobegin with,
the uncertainty about the departure
negotiations areaburden on thebusiness
climate.EvenbeforeBrexit, this
may result in areluctance to invest
on thepartofcompanies withsignificant
trade with the UK and already
be slowing down the German economy
noticeably in2017. The extent
to which trade relations with the UK
and growth are weakened by the actual
Brexit depends on the result of
thenegotiations.
04. Brexit must take place in accordance
withclear and comprehensible procedures.
At thesame time we must safeguard
Europe’s economic interests.
Extensive economicrelations withEurope
arecertainly possible without EU
membership, asisdemonstrated by
theexamples of Switzerland and Norway.
Far-reaching exceptional rules
forthe UK would, however, create the
wrong incentives.
05. With Brexit, for the first time in the
history of the European Union, not
only has the expansion and deepening
of theUnion been called into question,
it has in fact been reversed. Europe
must stop its inner fragmentation
now, by standing up forits values,
taking agreed regulations seriously
and at the same time producing a
new consensus about the European
idea. Aspart ofthis, the principle of
subsidiarity and thus ofthe member
states’autonomywill once again play
agreater role.
Friedrich von Metzler,Banker
01. At Metzler we concentrateonindividual
capitalmarketservices forinstitutions
and fordemanding private customers.
Our fields of business Asset
Management, CapitalMarkets, Corporate
Finance and PrivateBanking are
not directly affected by the impending
Brexit, particularly as we do not
have abranch in the UK. We regard
thedecision of theBritish to leavethe
European Union with concern however,aseconomicdevelopmentinEurope
as awhole will suffer.The rapid
recovery of the capital markets after
thevoteshows,however, that panicis
misplaced.
02. Frankfurt am Main will benefit, but
there isnocause for much euphoria.
Unlimited access to the most im- v
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