One of the most notorious opponents of the City of London has been appointed to lead Brexit negotiations on behalf of the European Commission. The Frenchman’s proposed reforms to the insurance industry were ridiculed in 2011 by the CBI as a “highly inappropriate” product of “laboratoire Barnier”. Mr Barnier was behind the EU’s restrictions on bankers’ bonuses, which were resisted by George Osborne. Michel Barnier, the former French government minister and European commissioner, was a hate figure in the City in the aftermath of the financial crisis for the way that he tried to regulate the financial services sector.

Source: The Times July 27, 2016 10:52 UTC