Milan makes bid to attract London financiers

As various European cities line up to try to eclipse post-Brexit London, Milan is the latest to make a move.

A delegation from the Italian city is headed to the UK according to the Financial Times with a lofty goal in mind: to 1,500 asset managers to pack up their bags and move to the fashion capital, which they hope will soon become known as a financial capital in its own right.

“We think Milan has every chance to get its share if there is a diaspora from London,” Fabrizio Pagani, chief of staff in Italy’s finance ministry, told the Times.

Despite national politics that have a history of driving away institutions in search of a stable location and an upcoming election this spring, the government is showing its seriousness by amending its personal tax code — a figurative welcome mat in the financial world.

The changes range from a 50 percent cut on income tax for five years for “middle managers” and a 15-year flat annual tax on any foreign income.

But Pagani concedes that competing with London is nearly impossible: “There are two main points of consensus: London will remain important and that there will not be a ‘new London’ post Brexit.” The best he’s hoping for is a return to a multiple European financial hubs.

[FT] — Erin Hudson