British exit from EU a ‘big mistake’, top US boss warns

A British exit from the European Union would be a “big mistake” and could jeopardise London’s position as a major financial centre, a leading US boss has warned.

Dan Glaser is chief executive of the professional-services giant Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC), which is headquartered in New York but employs almost 7000 people in the UK.

He told the Evening Standard: “When I worked in London back in the 1980s, people used to talk about whether London or Frankfurt was the financial capital of Europe.

“Now that battle has been won and it’s the joint financial capital of the world alongside New York,” Glaser said.

However, with a referendum on Britain’s membership of the 28-bloc set for as early as next year, he added: “I absolutely think it would be a big mistake economically, politically and strategically for the UK to leave the EU.”

MMC’s divisions include the insurance broker Marsh and consultancy Oliver Wyman.

Glaser, who is in the UK to pick up the BritishAmerican Business Corporate Citizenship Award, also warned that cyber security is the “biggest man-made risk issue of our time”.