City woos Frankfurt business

City woos Frankfurt business

THE CITY of London will tomorrow step up its attempts to win business from Frankfurt when the Bank of England hosts a symposium designed to convince the markets that London is ready for the introduction of the euro.

David Clementi (left), deputy governor of the Bank, said: "We've taken the view that in or out [of EMU], we want as much business as possible to be done in London." According to Mr Clementi, the City is well-prepared for the "conversion weekend" - the four days at the end of the year when the financial markets will convert from local European currencies to the euro - although there are no guarantees. He said: "The first week will be the biggest concern. We are expecting a greater number of failed trades and a greater number of misdirected payments." Some 25,000 City employees are expected to come into work over the conversion weekend.

Tomorrow's symposium comes as a survey, conducted by Healey & Baker, the property consultancy, finds that London will be less attractive to investors post-EMU.