We are in charge now, Sarkozy tells the City
Francis Elliott, Suzy Jagger, Martin Waller and David Charter
(Ian Langsdon/EPA) to not show image description -->
Nicolas Sarkozy
Alistair Darling has delivered a blunt warning to the EU’s new French finance chief against meddling with the City of London.
As Nicolas Sarkozy gloated over impending curbs on the City, the Chancellor said that such moves would drive financial services out of Europe.
The French President’s glee at the appointment of Michel Barnier as Commissioner for the Single Market took on an edge of menace yesterday when he said that unfettered City practices must end.
“Do you know what it means for me to see for the first time in 50 years a French European commissioner in charge of the internal market, including financial services, including the City [of London]?" he said yesterday.
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"I want the world to see the victory of the European model, which has nothing to do with the excesses of financial capitalism," he said.
His implicit threat was just what Downing Street had feared when Mr Barnier, formerly an agriculture minister, was given the portfolio last week.
Mr Darling, writing in The Times today, says that it would be a “recipe for confusion” if firms were supervised by the EU as well as national watchdogs and that Britain would not accept new laws that could lead to taxpayers picking up the bill for bailouts ordered by Brussels.
He rejects claims that the economic crisis was the fault of the “Anglo-Saxon” model, pointing out that French and German banks were among the biggest creditors of the failed US insurance giant AIG.
Terry Smith, a prominent banker, said that the threat of increased regulation was already threatening the City’s future.
“I’ve never seen so much work going on by companies, individuals and teams of people to evaluate relocation out of the UK,” he said.
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Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6939895.ece
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