Impact of Brexit in London recruitment

Now that it is clear that the UK will leave the EU in January, what is your perspective on recruitment in London for European citizens? Do you guys think banks will move to Frankfurt/Paris to avoid dealing with new immigration laws, or that they will stay in London and hire more British kids? I am asking as an EU citizen hoping to apply for SA 2021.

23 Comments
 

It’s very tough to recruit as a US citizen to London unless you’re at a UK uni / on a exchange year.

Brexit won’t make it any easier nor difficult. The visa process is follows: £50 fee for the bank and 30 mins time for someone from HR. BoJo has actually said he’ll make it easier for talented people to come into London. Let’s see..

 

Can guarantee, if you're from a major country (US/India/China/CA-AUS-NZ/Brazil), you'll have a much easier time at obtaining the immigration visa. BoJo will have to loosen up immigration policy to get a favourable trade deal with either of those nations, especially India and China which have been clamouring for that for so long. That being said, language skills will be a hurdle for those two countries, since candidates don't usually have stellar English (if they do, they might make it), or they otherwise don't know a European language, unlike candidates from say Mexico or Brazil or Africa. Americans from top schools with at least one language proficiency are going to have an easier time. Order of importance -> German>Italian~French>Spanish (solely from personal observation)

I don't see London shifting away as the centre for IBD, and most PE firms have already carried out passporting. Securities trading won't be affected as much either, since most of it is algorithmic, and passporting has been carried out. Boutique firms without a European presence will have a signficantly difficult time, and rightfully deserved since they had three fucking years to do that. So yeah, people will still live in London, although European bankers may prefer to stick to their home turfs.

That being said, I went to my girlfriend's hometown near Koln-Dusseldorf, and her maternal place near Munich, and both places were fucking boring compared to London. The only reason we may not continue in London is because she is an NHS resident, and under Boris Johnson, the NHS is going to be thoroughly fucked more and more (it is already fucked - imagine 5 more years of Tory cuts).

EDIT:- For OP (EU citizen), SA should be no problem, but getting FT will be harder, since boutiques will no longer prefer EU kids, and WILL 100% choose a British kid over you, all things equal.

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

Yeah, fuck off Goebbels

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 
"My Name is Jeff" Can guarantee, if you're from a major country (US/India/China/CA-AUS-NZ/Brazil), you'll have a much easier time at obtaining the immigration visa. BoJo will have to loosen up immigration policy to get a favourable trade deal with either of those nations, especially India and China which have been clamouring for that for so long. That being said, language skills will be a hurdle for those two countries, since candidates don't usually have stellar English (if they do, they might make it), or they otherwise don't know a European language, unlike candidates from say Mexico or Brazil or Africa. Americans from top schools with at least one language proficiency are going to have an easier time. Order of importance -> German>Italian~French>Spanish (solely from personal observation)

I don't see London shifting away as the centre for IBD, and most PE firms have already carried out passporting. Securities trading won't be affected as much either, since most of it is algorithmic, and passporting has been carried out. Boutique firms without a European presence will have a signficantly difficult time, and rightfully deserved since they had three fucking years to do that. So yeah, people will still live in London, although European bankers may prefer to stick to their home turfs.

That being said, I went to my girlfriend's hometown near Koln-Dusseldorf, and her maternal place near Munich, and both places were fucking boring compared to London. The only reason we may not continue in London is because she is an NHS resident, and under Boris Johnson, the NHS is going to be thoroughly fucked more and more (it is already fucked - imagine 5 more years of Tory cuts).

EDIT:- For OP (EU citizen), SA should be no problem, but getting FT will be harder, since boutiques will no longer prefer EU kids, and WILL 100% choose a British kid over you, all things equal.

The irony of this post is that it's the exact opposite of what Johnson has campaigned for. Tories are now the party of the working class. The working class wants less immigration.

The other big issue was NHS. Tories are now the party of spending for healthcare.

On topic, London will be fine. There was some movement to Frankfurt, but the so called ''exodus'' never materialized. Much like the alleged economic collapse, market crash and all the doom-saying predictions by liberal economists.

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 

Through time, as London loses more of its pan-European appeal and international character, London will lose its appeal to banking folks also.

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

Should be good tbh, in medium term once the uncertainty is resolved there will be increased activity. From my experience there are quite a lot of deals ‘in the pipeline’ that are awaiting the outcome...

don’t know how that really impacts recruiting though. My assumption would be little change from status quo for now.

 

I'd imagine that back-office roles will face the most disruption, as those have been historically outsourced to Eastern Europe and Ireland.

 
Most Helpful

Even before Brexit banks had started the process of moving jobs out of London, either to cheaper cities in the UK (see DB moving ER jobs to Birmingham) or to Dublin. London has become a victim of its own success with the cost of living requiring higher and higher wages to attract and retain candidates. I expect this trend to continue regardless of what immigration policies the UK adopts post Brexit. In terms of front-office roles I expect London will remain the hub of Europe and I would expect little to no impact on the ability to hire skilled workers from the EU. The anti-immigrant sentiment in the UK is not directed at high earning foreign bankers, it is directed at low-wage immigrants from Eastern Europe who are willing to work for below minimum wage salaries in low-end retail and factory jobs. The brickie in Sunderland who has seen construction wages depressed by cheap labour from Poland has no clue and couldn't care less about who some investment bank chooses to hire in London (which is basically a foreign country to most people in the rest of the UK).

 

Sunt cupiditate fugiat consequatur impedit ut earum. Ratione excepturi aut eos tempore et ea voluptatem. Aut et magnam perspiciatis maiores sunt adipisci. Eaque nisi quos id ut.

Sunt fugiat possimus et a. Temporibus ratione deserunt dicta nisi libero. Neque omnis nihil delectus non provident. Maxime non architecto harum et et dolor et. Praesentium similique et et quo sint debitis suscipit.

Dolorem doloribus minus minus minima. Consectetur illo vitae sed sed. Maxime hic illo expedita eaque omnis aliquid enim. Esse nam cum ab est asperiores molestiae. Rerum ipsa debitis explicabo sint.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”