‘The money machine is misfiring’: City blames Brexit for UK’s £20bn productivity headache

The City of London is seeking rays of hope after Brexit hit its position relative to other EU financial hubs. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty

For Rob Rooney, the impact of Brexit for the City of London is clear. “Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan and Paris are all doing better than they were. It has been at London’s expense. There is no question about that.”

In his time as Morgan Stanley’s top executive in London, Rooney led the US investment bank’s relocation of hundreds of bankers and billions of pounds of assets to Frankfurt to sidestep Britain’s shock EU departure. More than 440 other City companies followed suit, moving almost £1tn between them – roughly 10% of the entire UK banking system – to financial hubs across the EU.