European businesses call for post-Brexit settlement, Japan’s Keidanren to take issue on ‘no Brexit deal is better than a bad deal’

Overseas companies issued warnings about how Brexit may affect their business. Forty European business lobbies representing companies in 34 countries have called for a post-Brexit settlement that seeks to maintain the integrity of the single market and prevents “unnecessary” barriers to both trade and investment.

Meanwhile, a large business group in Japan is currently in the process of preparing a communiqué taking issue with the “no Brexit deal is better than a bad deal,” the mantra within the British government as it pushes for its split with the European Union. It supposedly sent a chill through the boardrooms of Japanese companies that provide jobs for 140,000 people in the UK.

Irish Times reported that a person who has seen a draft from Keidanren’s demands and policy proposals said the pivotal message is to “negotiate with deeper consideration for the economy.” Keidanren’s membership includes Toyota, Hitachi and other huge Japanese investors in the UK.

Deutsche Bank, on the other hand, reportedly plans to move to a new headquarters in London in 2023. Siemens expressed a more positive note as it reaffirmed its commitment to the UK during a recent event in Berlin. Siemens, which is among the largest engineering companies globally, employs over 15,000 in the UK.

JPMorgan Chase & Co, along with other banks that hope to continue serving the community in London, is expected to speed up the shift of jobs and operations into the EU or to New York. Oliver Wyman, a consulting firm, estimated that 70,000 financial-services jobs would be at risk in a worst-case scenario.

In other Brexit news, Donald Tusk has warned that there will no winner from the United Kingdom's planned withdrawal from the European Union, and that the next two years would be about “damage control.” The president of the European council notes that most Europeans, including almost half the British voters, do not wish to drift apart, but hope to stay together. Tusk assured that until the UK leaves the EU, the EU law will still apply to and within the country.

Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European commission, has warned that the UK’s choice to quit the bloc is something it will regret one day. Manfred Weber, the chair of the largest party grouping in the European parliament, said the consequences of Brexit would affect the daily lives of Britain’s citizens and warned that the EU would be “tough” on the UK, the Guardian reported.