Mr Rolet warned that Brussels’ plan to onshore clearing activity poses a “systemic risk” to the European Union.
He said: “The Europeans see Brexit as a political decision, so their answer clearly is a political one. They do not understand why people would put economic arguments [first],” adding that the Commission had “very little of understanding” of clearing and saw Brexit as an opportunity to “grab it”.
“If the EU forces EU-headquartered banks and asset management to clear their euro-denominated interest rate swaps inside the eurozone… if that were to happen over time, because they cannot just force it overnight, it’s a systemic risk that they cannot afford to take.”
He added that the policy will likely force activity from London to the US, where the EU has an equivalence deal that encompasses clearing.
“It’s not going to happen in six months. But if the engine moves, it will move to the US… the clearing engine of LCH is at risk.
“For me, the litmus test for London – the ability for it to retain its global crown in financial services – is over the coming years whether it retains the global clearing engine in interest rate swaps.”
Rolet last year resigned from PhosAgro, a Russian chemicals company, following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
He said: “I was on the board of a Russian company, there were sanctions published by the EU, and so the same day I resigned. That was it.
“I pitched IPOs in China and Russia, with several British prime ministers and I was proud to bring some of them to the London market. But I don’t make geopolitics, and when the environment changes, you have to change with it.”
Andrew Griffith, the City minister, said: “We have a track record of attracting the brightest and best companies in the world built on the long-standing competitive advantages of the UK and its attractiveness as a place to do business.
“But we are not complacent which is precisely why our Edinburgh Reforms are so important and that getting them into play swiftly is our focus.
“From changing the culture of financial regulators, streamlining the time and process that it takes to list to improving investment research and much more, the reforms are an ambitious and comprehensive regime.”
