Banker’s Brexit exodus would cost them hefty pay-cuts in Paris and Frankfurt

Data gathered after an analysis of 8,065 salaries for front-office banking roles in London, Frankfurt and Paris, salary-benchmarking site Emolument found that London bankers earned higher salaries than their German or French peers at all levels.

Bankers in the City could see their pay trimmed by up to 30 per cent if they moved to Germany’s financial centre or the French capital, while for managing directors the gap widens to up to 80 per cent.

The study showed London-based associates earned 100,000 pounds on average, compared with 71,000 pounds and 70,000 pounds for their contemporaries in Frankfurt and Paris respectively, while directors earned 280,000 pounds - 98,000 pounds more than peers in Frankfurt and 114,000 pounds more than Paris-based directors.

Despite the broad pay gaps, Emolument said some bankers could be financially better off if they moved to Frankfurt, where the cost of living is 60 percent lower than in London.

In Paris, however, a 35 percent reduction in living costs compared to London would not fully offset the steep pay cuts a move to the French capital would entail.

Alice Leguay, co-founder of Emolument.com, said: “If Brexit were to occur, some banks have already announced they would be looking to relocate some of their front office activities to continental offices, such as Goldman Sachs to Paris.

“Until now, prestigious banking jobs were usually to be found in London. An attractive set of opportunities on the continent could, however, give London bankers cause to leave the UK.”

If Britain does vote to leave the EU in a referendum on Thursday, sources at some banks including have indicated they could be forced to move front office and trading activities to continental offices.

Banking giant HSBC said in February it could transfer about 1,000 jobs from London to Paris and JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have hinted at similar plans.