Athens in talks with London-based banks over post-Brexit moves, says Patelis

Greece is in talks with three banks based in the City of London which are looking to move their services to Greece due to Brexit, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ chief economic adviser Alex Patelis has said.

“There’s also an opportunity with Brexit. We are in advanced conversations with three members from the City, who are looking to diversify out of London as Brexit comes into play, beginning of next year,” Patelis said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Friday.

“Now the negotiations are mostly focusing on goods and on fisheries and we have a large pie that’s going to be services and we would like to be able to grab a share of that pie,” Patelis said.

Patelis also referred to government plans to introduce tax incentives for those who relocate to Greece.

“Half of their income will be free of income tax, that’s 50% of income… for any job and that will be for up to seven years,” he said.

“We are very excited about these opportunities,” he said.

Patelis said the expansion of remote working due to the coronavirus pandemic favored the relocation of corporate officials and freelance professionals.

“Technology advances… Many of us can now choose where we live and work. And so what we say is that Greece has the sun. We’ve been blessed with natural beauties so we want to attract more people,” he said.

“We now have low taxes, we’re improving on the technology,” he said.