Let's says banks do decide to relocate, or at least partially relocate after Brexit. Where would they go, Paris or Frankfurt? Here are some numbers for you to ponder.
Movinga.de have conducted a study to consider the cost and efforts of what it calls a Brefugee exodus. In combination with the 2017 Relocation Index, here is a comprehensive view of the two cities that are expected to win the vast majority of these jobs.
Last week, HSBC confirmed plans to move 1,000 jobs from London to Paris, prompting Goldman Sachs to announce the relocation of 1,600 workers from London to Frankfurt. As both cities are EU-based banking hubs, they are heavily engaged in securing these new jobs.
These are the number of employees and positions in industry that are at stake:
| Name of bank | Number of relocations planned |
| JP Morgan | 4,000 |
| Citigroup | 2,000 |
| Morgan Stanley | 2,000 |
| Goldman Sachs | 1,600 |
| Bank of America | 1,400 |
| HSBC | 1,000 |
| UBS | 1,000 |
| BNP Paribas | 200 |
| Total | 13,200 |
When their annual salary and bonus are combined, traders and investors earn an average of €116,996.06 per year. Collectively, those 13,200 workers earn almost €1.6 billion. This represents a huge opportunity to the French and German economies in terms of spending money and tax revenue.
After tax, the German and French economies could expect a spending boost of almost €1 billion euros every year if they were to attract these high earners.
With an income tax rate of 41%, the French government would earn an additional €634,733,432 per year from these high earners. The German government could earn even more with their rate of 42%, potentially bringing in a total of €650,214,735 annually. Both countries could also earn billions from the additional corporation tax they would receive.
So how will the banks decide?
Taken from Movinga’s 2017 Relocation Price Index, here are the some of the costs that the companies and employees would face in Frankfurt and Paris.
The table below introduces the costs faced by firms: the average cost of office space in Frankfurt and Paris, and the rate of corporation tax rate in those cities.
| City | Av. Monthly Cost of Office Space (Per Sq. M.) | Corporation tax rate |
Frankfurt
€37.00
29%
Paris
€55.42
33.3%Frankfurt offers companies more competitive prices for renting office space than Paris. It also has a lower corporation tax rate compared to its French rival.
The table below introduces the living costs that the employees will encounter when relocating to either Frankfurt or Paris. These costs include the monthly rental of an apartment in each city, and the cost of buying an apartment in each city. The average cost of relocating one employee and their belongings from London to Frankfurt and Paris has also been included.
| Av. Monthly Rent |
150 Sq. M.Av. Price to Buy
150 Sq. M.Relocation Service from London
Frankfurt
€2,355
€1,190,000
€2,689.71
Paris
€5,148.86
€1,434,375
€1,385.49
It is cheaper to relocate one worker from London to Paris, which is unsurprising considering the geographical proximity of the two cities. However, Frankfurt offers workers more competitive prices for renting and buying property.
