Geneva will leave London behind and become the world’s most important trading hub for physical energy commodities, including oil, as leading companies relocate dozens of traders to Switzerland, according to industry executives.
The transfers threaten the UK capital’s leadership in physical crude and oil products, first established in the late 1980s, and come amid broader financial industry complaints about stiffer regulation, higher taxes and poor transport infrastructure in London.
The Geneva Trading and Shipping Association, the industry body, believes the Swiss city now “ties with London as Europe’s number-one oil trading hub”. But oil executives said the balance was turning in the favour of the Swiss city.