French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced at a press conference with the presence of Benjamin Griveaux, State Secretary to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, Valérie Pecresse, President of the Paris Region, and Patrick Ollier, President of the Greater Paris Metropolis, a new “ambitious plan for the Paris Financial Centre” in the context of Brexit and of the relaunch, by the French President of the Republic, of the European project.
Consistent with the expectations of investors and international financial companies identified by Paris EUROPLACE, these measures concern in the first instance the improvement of infrastructures, in particular the acceleration of the implementation of the CDG Express line, to improve the connection between the airports and Paris city centre, as well as the launch of the construction of 3 new international high schools, announced by the President of the Paris Region.
Other areas relate to, in particular:
- The commitment to an improved flexibility of labour rules, with the implementation of the ordinances announced by the President of the Republic, on the transfer of social negotiation from national to company level, and, more specifically for the financial sector, the exclusion of any bonus paid to “risk taking” employees from the calculation of their severance package.
- The introduction of a more attractive taxation, with the reduction of the corporate tax rate to 25% by 2022, the removal of the wealth tax on investments in transferable securities, as well as the introduction of a flat tax on savings revenues of around 30%, the removal of the extension of the financial transaction tax to intra-day transactions or the removal of the top marginal band of the top payroll tax, which hinders the arrival in France of international talents.
- The commitment of the Government to stop any gold-plating of European directives and to accelerate simplification regarding financial matters.
Paris EUROPLACE welcomes the announcement of this highly significant package of measures to enhance the attractiveness of the Financial Centre, which come at a crucial time of the potential rebalancing of financial services in Europe, including to put them at the service of sustainable growth and employment, and of the strengthening of the position of Paris at European and global level.
This press conference was a new demonstration of the common commitment of French leaders, regardless of their political views, to the service of the same ambition - a strong and innovative financial centre, dedicated to the service of our corporates, and in particular our SMEs, and to sustainable finance - and it happened almost one year ago to the day when the “sacred union” was formed by Manuel valls, Anne Hidalgo and Valérie Pecresse, on 6 July 2016, at the occasion of the Paris EUROPLACE International Financial Forum.
It took place in the context of an unprecedented situation for the Paris Financial Centre, initiated on 4th July by the Prime Minister’s general policy speech in which he announced “strong measures to enhance the attractiveness of the Paris Financial Centre” and which will culminate on 11th July, with his speech at the Paris EUROPLACE International Financial Forum, which will bring together over 1,500 international delegates in Paris.
The Prime Minister, together with Gérard Mestrallet, Chairman of Paris EUROPLACE, will chair the lunch session, with the presence of many personalities, including Stuart Gulliver, CEO of HSBC, and Jamie DIMON, CEO of JP Morgan, as well as chairmen of French banking institutions, insurance companies and asset management companies and many representatives of Fintech companies.
Gérard Mestrallet, Chairman of Paris EUROPLACE, stated: “This package of measures meets the expectations voiced over the last months by the financial institutions and international investors that we have met. It is a compelling encouragement to make Paris the heart of European finance and thus to contribute to enhancing its economic attractiveness and the creation of jobs in France”.
