THE chief of the UK's biggest online trading platform has issued the latest stark warning over Brexit as he said the loss of banking jobs to the continent was already doing "long term damage" to Britain's economy.
Chris Hill, the recently-appointed chief executive of Hargreaves Lansdown, told the Press Association banking giants were "voting with their feet" on Brexit by pulling thousands of jobs out of the City ahead of the UK's divorce with the European Union.
He said uncertainty created by the negotiations was the biggest concern among financial services firms and was filtering down to retail investors. After triggering Article 50, the UK is currently set to leave the Union in March 2019.
"The big banks are moving people overseas - that's long term damage to the UK economy," he said.
His comments come after London Stock Exchange boss Xavier Rolet said earlier this week that more jobs would be lost overseas unless details of a transitional period were agreed by the end of the year.
Dublin, Paris and Frankfurt are thought to be among the cities which could benefit from a widespread movement of financial services staff from London. Royal Bank of Scotland has said it may be forced to move 150 staff to Amsterdam after Brexit, to maintain an EU presence.
Mr Hill remained tight-lipped on his Brexit stance, but insisted Hargreaves Lansdown was neutral on the subject, despite co-founder Peter Hargreaves being a prominent and vocal supporter of the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
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