The CEO of Goldman Sachs said that a “difficult” Brexit will have a negative impact on the bank’s investment in Britain.
Speaking to the BBC at Davos, David Solomon, Goldman Sachs chief executive, said the bank’s decisions about resources and people will be influenced by the outcome of Brexit.
Goldman Sachs currently has more than 6,000 employees in the UK.
Mr Solomon said: “If this [Brexit] is resolved in a difficult way, or in a hard way, I do think it’ll have an impact on where we invest in where we put people.
“All these things ultimately have an impact on the investment decisions and the business decisions that all of us as business leaders make.”
Only a few of Goldman’s staff in Britain have been asked to move to other European locations. However, the bank has actively increased headcount in Paris, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Madrid and Milan.
While the bank is evidently concerned about Brexit, the primary concern for the investment bank is the current tension between China and the US – the world’s two largest economies.
Solomon hopes China and the US can come to an agreement.
“I think the administration has it right. I think there have been imbalances in the way the US and China have dealt with each other, particularly the openness of China’s had with respect to US business.
“We want to see a level playing field and we want to see our technology and our investment over a long period of time protected,” Mr Solomon said.
David Solomon also appeared on CNBC (video embedded below) and provided his thoughts on the state of the US economy, the likelihood of a recession and broader markets.