Britain has been warned that the vote on its membership of the European Union could deal a heavy blow to the economy by forcing global banks with large operations in the UK to consider moving elsewhere.
Standard & Poor’s, one of the three giant credit ratings agencies, said that Brexit could “significantly dent” the country’s trade surplus in financial services, which is equal to more than 3 per cent of its annual economic output, presenting a sharp loss of earnings for Britain if it leaves the EU.
Nearly a third of foreign investment comes from overseas banks and other financial companies, of which about half are lenders and institutions based in other EU countries. S&P said that should they head elsewhere, this could lead to