Firms now flocking to France

PARIS — Banking giant Citigroup, fast food master KFC and elevator-maker Otis are planning to expand activities in France thanks in part to what they call the “Macron effect” — a surge in investor optimism driven by the French president’s pro-business promises.

The French capital’s campaign to pull in jobs from London — particularly in the prestigious finance world — clinched a victory this week when the EU chose Paris to take over the European Banking Authority from London postBrexit.

President Emmanuel Macron, whose government has set aside quiet diplomacy and relentlessly lobbied for post-Brexit jobs, tweeted his joy. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein tweeted his appreciation last week for the “positive energy” in Paris — and the world-famous food.

From Dublin to Frankfurt, Luxembourg or Amsterdam, cities across the continent are vying to draw business away from the City of London, as financial companies look for a new hub allowing them easy access to markets in the 27 nations remaining in the open-border EU.

Instead of relocating wholesale, however, London’s financial activities may instead splinter across all of them — or stay put.