Fuzzy outlook

About 5,000-13,000 financial jobs are expected to have left Britain by Brexit Day with a further shift in staff and operations likely.

“We won’t know what we are going to look like for at least 10 years,” Catherine McGuinness, the City of London’s policy chief said, adding that the City will remain a leading global financial centre which adapts to create jobs in areas like fintech.

After a “standstill” transition is due to end in December 2020 — if approved — the sector faces more limited access to the EU’s financial market after an industry push for broader relations was rejected by Brussels.

Looking back over the period since Britain’s 2016 referendum in favour of Brexit, McGuinness said the sector underestimated how unified the EU would be.