Bank of America to Continue Hiring in France to Keep Momentum, Holtz Says

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. plans to add staff incrementally in France, slowing the pace of expansion after moving hundreds to Paris in the wake of Brexit, according to a top executive.

The lender plans to grow in specific product areas and asset classes depending on client demand, Vanessa Holtz, head of BofA Securities Europe and country executive for France, said at Bloomberg’s New Voices event Monday. 

“Incremental means definitely more than a dozen” hires this year, she said. “We have a big momentum here in France, a big momentum in Europe and we want to make sure we follow the momentum.”

Bank of America was among the first US banks to announce plans to create a sales and trading base for Europe at its Paris office. Since then its local headcount surged from roughly 100 to 600 as of last year. Wall Street banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have also relocated hundreds of jobs from London to Paris after Brexit. 

Overall, the push to lure more business to Paris has translated into more than 7,000 extra jobs in the financial sector between 2017 and 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this year.

In order to cement Paris’s position as a European finance hub, France is currently working on a bill that aims to boost the country’s attractiveness to financial services. In its latest version, the bill includes a measure that will effectively cap the severance for highly paid individuals, including traders — a recurring demand from Wall Street employers in Paris.

“We welcome some flexibility,” Holtz said about the bill. 

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.