December 05, 2009

London financiers attacked the appointment of an ally of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to draft European Union rules for their industry, saying he risks undermining the capital's place as Europe's financial center.The French appointee Michel Barnier, 58, is "definitely not known as an Anglophile," said Jon Moulton, 59, the venture capitalist who tried to buy carmaker MG Rover in 2000. "He will be adverse to the interests of the U.K. financial industry," Moulton said. "I wouldn't be at all surprised to see us becoming the main victim."

Bankers in London are turning on their European watchdog, underscoring their dismay at the prospect of ceding greater regulatory power to Brussels. Governments are boosting oversight of the industry after the EU's banks required more than $5.3 trillion of taxpayer aid during the credit crisis. Anglo-French rivalry, dating back beyond the Norman conquest of England in 1066, resurfaced after Sarkozy said the decision left the British as "the big losers" in an interview with Le Monde.