(Reuters) - The head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has played down the impact of a possible exit from the European Union, telling the Wall Street Journal that the move would have little effect on the financial services sector.
The regulator's chief executive, Martin Wheatley, said that in the event of so-called Brexit, some firms would move operations and some companies would restructure, but the financial sector would not face a general decline. http://on.wsj.com/1MWNY1E
In the short term, Britain was likely to abide by rules set by Brussels on its financial sector and "not much would change", Wheatley said in the interview.
Wheatley also noted how Switzerland and, in the past, even Britain has managed to operate successfully out of the euro zone, saying "it's not to say that there isn't a model that can work but it's a different model".
His comments are in sharp contrast to what leading bankers and policy-makers have been saying about the political and economic costs of a British exit from the bloc.
Mark Boleat, who is effectively the political leader of the financial district's municipal body, the City of London Corporation, said in an interview with Reuters last week, "an exit vote would lead to years of 'divorce' negotiations during which London risked losing business."
British Prime Minister David Cameron won the 2015 elections on a platform to seek reform of the EU and a national referendum on Britain's membership by 2017.