With the U.K. opting out of the EU a suggestion that several global finance hubs could now come together is gaining momentum.
An informal alliance with banking interests that would combine the financial centres of Hong Kong, Switzerland, London and Singapore, that has been suggested before, has been reactivated by The Swiss Bankers Association.
The professional body, seeing an opportunity in the current U.K. political turmoil, is proposing clubbing together with other top non-European Union financial centres to more closely align efforts to ensure access to EU markets.
F4 Alliance
Using the financial muscle of the leading Asian hubs of Hong Kong and Singapore coupled with the power of Europe's financial powerhouse of London, the Swiss bankers association sees the alliance as a way to leverage favourable terms for an «EU passport» to operate within the restrictive trading bloc.
The idea to establish a so called “F4” alliance, was reported in the Financial Times (paywall) this week.
The EU threatens to block non-EU financial institutions out of the market unless they have a physical presence in one of the member states. Boutique Swiss banks and independent asset managers are concerned the proposed rule changes would dramatically increase their costs.
