2023-12-17 11:32:14
Published on Dec 17 2023 at 10:32
Two years after touring the lords of Wall Street, there’s another move for Bruno Le Maire. The Minister of Economy and Finance returned to New York on Friday. He has planned numerous meetings with the financial community until Monday evening.
Its objective remains to attract the big names in global finance to Paris, but by aiming for greater diversity. Those around him talk about a “second phase” of the post-Brexit attractiveness policy. After having attracted several major Wall Street banks, Paris now wants to bring in major global investment funds, and broaden its horizons to Asia, South America and the Middle East.
This policy has already started to bear fruit, with the opening this year of a Paris office for two sovereign funds, the Singaporean Temasek, with 382 billion dollars under management, and the Saudi Public Investment Fund, 776 billion. Last year, the American hedge fund Point72 established itself in the capital, and its compatriot Millenium increased its workforce there.
Raising funds at scale
In New York, Bruno Le Maire met Timothy Geithner, the president of Warburg Pincus, a private equity fund with 83 billion in assets under management which has offices in Amsterdam and London. This Monday he was to see Adebayo Ogunlesi, the CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners, another big American name in the sector with around 100 billion under management.
The French minister also does not forget to visit the financiers already present in Paris: Larry Fink at Blackrock, Brian Moynihan from Bank of America, Jared Cohen from Goldman Sachs, and the new boss of Morgan Stanley, Ted Pick. A few days ago, he saw Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan, in Paris. Bruno Le Maire was also to have dinner with American businessmen, at the initiative of entrepreneur Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York.
New measures expected in January
The presence of these companies in Paris creates direct employment. It also offers choice and liquidity to other economic players, particularly innovative companies that need to raise funds on a large scale.
Bruno Le Maire therefore wants to make the Paris square even more attractive. He remains attentive to the wishes of American financiers, and plans to make announcements in January on possible new legislative or regulatory measures. The Renaissance MP for Yvelines Charles Rodwell is calling in particular for France to ease the dismissal procedures for high earners.
Since Brexit, around 5,500 jobs have already been created in France in the financial sector, Bercy recalls, in particular thanks to the relocation of teams previously based in London. This is much more than other large European cities, such as Frankfurt or Dublin, which are also struggling to recruit these highly qualified employees.
The major American banks have largely contributed to this. JP Morgan has more than tripled its workforce in the capital since 2016, with nearly 900 employees. The American bank has become the main foreign bank in France.
It is closely followed by Bank of America, which employs more than 600 people and wants to grow further, and Morgan Stanley, which has around 330 employees but plans to reach the threshold of 500 in 2025.
Citi and Goldman Sachs have also invested heavily. The latter, whose French workforce has increased fourfold in the space of a few years, moved last year into brand new premises, on six floors, with a breathtaking view of the Arc de Triomphe.
440 million euros in tax revenue in 2022
These investments translate into more business. JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America have doubled their revenues in 2022 in France. The first even saw its profits exceed one billion euros locally.
Enough to feed the state coffers. Last year, the five Wall Street giants paid a total of more than 440 million euros in taxes, according to their annual reports. Tax revenues, including the contributions of new employees, would amount to billions over the past seven years.
These banks do not hesitate to invest beyond the financial field alone. Last month, the boss of JP Morgan came in person to bring a check for 70 million euros to promote entrepreneurship and access to employment in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
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