The chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland has warned that banks could pull operations out of Britain unless Theresa May draws up transitional arrangements for the country’s exit from the EU. Sir Howard Davies said it would be damaging if there was no transitional plan and that banks would have to make decisions based on uncertainty. Speaking to ITV’s Peston On Sunday programme, he said the US and Japanese banks were concerned by the prospect of a hard Brexit and were drawing up contingency plans. His comments come as a group of financiers and lawyers based in Milan draw up proposals for a post-Brexit financial services centre for Europe hinged around London and the Italian city. Although the UK does not use the euro, London is the centre of €570bn of trading in financial products in Europe’s single currency.

Source: The Guardian November 13, 2016 19:25 UTC