(Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. plans to keep increasing its presence in Paris even after staff numbers rose more than eight-fold in four years. 

Vanessa Holtz, who runs Bank of America’s operations in France covering Europe, told Bloomberg’s Future of Finance forum on Tuesday that headcount in France would “continue to grow organically according to where our client needs are.”

Also Read: Banks Betting on Paris Say There Really Is Life After London

Since Brexit, an increasing number of financial institutions have moved key operations to Paris, and France is attracting unprecedented levels of investment from abroad. JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. have all been beefing up their presence in the French capital as the city grows as a post-Brexit trading hub.

Figures from the European Banking Authority published in January showed the number of investment bankers and traders in France earning more than €1 million ($1.1 million) was up almost 80% since 2017. While the big early wave of relocations is largely over, many executives say they expect headcount to keep growing from local hiring.

Stephane Boujnah, CEO of Euronext NV, said on the panel that shifts in the finance landscape as a result of Brexit have only just started, with financial centers across the European Union to benefit. Sandro Pierri, chief executive officer of BNP Paribas Asset Management, said that there “is a concentration of decision making into the French ecosystem and I think this will continue for quite some time.”

France’s economy has been resilient despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, with the world facing multiple crises, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, threats to the global food supply, high inflation, supply chain disruptions and the impact of climate change. 

But challenges remain. The country has been roiled by protests — some of them violent — against efforts by President Emmanuel Macron to reform the pension system by raising the retirement age to 64 from 62. Its public debt remains a concern. 

Holtz said French protests and strikes are not putting off investors making long-term plans.

EU Climate Chief Calls For Faster Shift to Sustainability (5:50 p.m)

European Commission Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans urged mobilizing private and public finance to accelerate the green transition.

“If you calculate the costs of inaction and compare that to tremendous costs of action, still action will be cheaper and will deliver,” he told Bloomberg’s Future of Finance conference in Paris. “It’s bloody hard but it needs to be done.”

Europe Markets Watchdog Wants Fund Labels to Fight Greenwashing (5:40 p.m.)

The European Securities & Markets Authority is pushing for an overhaul of ESG labels as it looks to stamp out greenwashing.

“What’s important for us is to make sure the claim is properly substantiated, for that we’ll be doing some work collectively,” ESMA Executive Director Natasha Cazenave said at the Bloomberg Future of Finance conference in Paris on Tuesday.

AMF Chair Expects EU’s ESG Regulations to Work With Global Standards (5:15 p.m.)

The chair of France’s markets regulator expects the EU’s ESG regulations to be interoperable with whatever global standards are ultimately established.

“We will try as much as possible to make sure that market participants will not have various sets of different reporting,” Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani, chair of Autorite des Marches Financiers, said at Bloomberg’s Future of Finance conference in Paris.

She also addressed the recent banking turmoil in North America, saying there was little sign of similar issues developing in Europe. “From a financial stability point of view we were vigilant but not worried,” she said.

EU Banks Face Tougher Supervision Than Many in US, Villeroy Says (4:15 p.m.)

European banks are subject to stronger supervision than many US peers and have proved robust and stable during market turmoil, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said. The central banker said European lenders also benefit from more diversified business models that perform well when interest rates rise.

“Our banks are robust, with substantial capital and liquidity buffers,” said Villeroy, who sits on the European Central Bank Governing Council. “They are all subject to a) stringent Basel requirements and b) to single and strong supervision within the Banking Union since 2014, which on these two regards makes a big difference with many US banks.”

France’s Moscovici Says EU Public Finances Are Source of Concern (3:30 p.m.)

Separately, Pierre Moscovici, the head of the Cour des Comptes, France’s top court for auditing public funds, said the energy and inflation crises in Europe are threatening efforts to repair public finances, which is needed to ensure countries can continue to invest in their economies.

“A cause for concern is the situation of member states’ public finances in the EU and also here in France,” the former European commissioner and French finance minister said. “It seems clear that post-Covid-19 fiscal consolidation efforts in the euro zone are now threatened by the energy and inflation crisis.”

 

--With assistance from William Horobin, William Shaw, Ellie Harmsworth, Alexandre Rajbhandari, Ewa Krukowska, Nicholas Comfort, Francine Lacqua, Tom Metcalf and Caroline Connan.

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