France Should Reduce Trader Layoffs to Attract More Financial Firms

The goal of France’s efforts to stay a top destination for financial firms is to make it easier to fire senior finance staff.

A bill aimed at increasing financial companies’ attractiveness to the nation and assisting French companies in attracting investors may include these modifications.

Alexander Holroyd, the French lawmaker overseeing the file from President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party, states that the bill could give financial firms more discretion in terminating high-level employees by modifying France’s renownedly protective labor laws and lowering severance packages.

“You cannot fully benefit from our social model, in particular on unemployment benefits, and at the same time have the remuneration that goes with this type of job,” he said, noting that “today, the cost of firing a very well-paid trader is very high.”

Holroyd cautioned that the changes were still under development and that, given the difficulty of identifying which jobs would be affected, they might prove problematic from a legal standpoint. He suggested that commodity traders in the energy sector might be affected.

According to Holroyd, the new bill is a result of French pressure at the EU level to facilitate companies’ access to private financing.

The bill would expand the list of businesses that qualify for private equity funding, which would incentivize private equity firms to invest in French companies. Currently, only businesses with a market capitalization of less than €150 million are qualified; €500 million would be the new threshold.

Additional steps include streamlining the process for raising new capital, such as by reducing the ability of current shareholders to vote on capital raises. Additionally, it would facilitate online shareholder and board meetings.

Following Brexit, France has increased its efforts to entice investors to Paris as a financial center by providing tax breaks and easing the nation’s notoriously strict labor laws. According to a 2022 study by consulting firm EY, as a result, the Paris region gained roughly 2,800 finance jobs between 2016 and 2022, surpassing Frankfurt.

By year’s end, the government declared a new set of policies and stated its intention to draw in financial players other than banks, like sovereign funds and private equity funds.

On April 8, the French parliament is scheduled to discuss the text.