"I've been a senior banker in London for 20 years. I've never seen anything like this"
"I've been working in banking for 20 years in London and never witnessed so much anxiety from the international community living in the City. This goes beyond the Lehman default period and it affects people way beyond the finance industry.
Everyone is wondering if British people realise what they have actually voted for and what the long term implications are. There is a broad feeling that a relatively unimportant and domestic political battle has escalated into a decision that will negatively affect people's lives for decades.
When I talk to colleagues, there are two key things on their minds. 1) Will I lose my job and/or have to move abroad? 2) Will my house (which took me so long to buy) collapse in value?
Will jobs move out of London? Personally, I think there will be only 1,000 to 2,000 front office jobs that really NEED to be relocated to Paris, Frankfurt and Dublin over the next 24 months. Need may not be the main driver, however. As various people have pointed out, many firms will take the opportunity to move far more people than necessary into lower cost areas.
Bankers are stoical people. While there's anxiety, no-one's panicking and packing their bags, but everyone is aware that the likely need to relocate has gone up substantially. Frankfurt and Paris are the no-brainers. The picture for Southern Europe is more blurry."
Fred Ricci is the pseudonym of a senior salesperson at a major US bank in the City of London