Dubai-Mubasher: A total of 71% of investment professionals said that Brexit will not impact Dubai’s competitiveness as a global financial centre, according to survey conducted by the CFA Institute to measure the potential outcomes of Brexit.
Around 58% of respondents noted that Middle East companies will reduce their presence in the UK in the fallout from the Brexit. Only 10% said that companies from the Middle East with “significant operations” in the UK would seek to expand more in the kingdom.
“UK fragmentation is rated as most likely, with 59% of respondents regarding it as more likely than not. More exits from the EU came next in the list with more than 48% of respondents seeing this as likely and just 26% thinking it unlikely. NATO disintegration was regarded as being the least likely outcome,” the global association said.
The survey highlighted that 33% of respondents expected the uncertainty following the referendum vote to last for up to six months, and a further 26% believe that the uncertainty may persist for up to two years.
Frankfurt and Dublin are thought most likely to emerge as ‘winners’ from Brexit, with 69% and 62% of respondents picking them as likely beneficiaries.
Most of respondents said that a little change is likely to happen in the status of financial centres outside the EU, while 82% of professionals expect London to be a loser as a consequence of Brexit.
“In the immediate aftermath of the Brexit referendum vote, we can see considerable variance over how long investment professionals expect market uncertainty to last, but that uncertainty will be with us for a while at least,” according to Paul Smith, President and CEO of CFA Institute.
