Global bankers fire warnings over Brexit vote

The chairman of Deutsche Bank has warned of a Brexit “disaster” for the UK as a host of the world’s top central bankers braced for more turbulence before next week’s referendum.

Paul Achleitner, whose German bank is likely to move some of its 8000 UK staff following a vote to leave the European Union, said: “London bookies and the betting industry are still in the ‘remain’ camp.”

“I hope they’re right, because if it works the other way, it’s an economic disaster for the UK and a political disaster for the EU.”

His comments in New York came as investors again ducked for cover, pushing the price of safe-haven gold to a near-two-year high of $1309 an ounce, and central bankers delivered a slew of warnings over the impact of a Leave vote.

The Swiss National Bank, which has already resorted to negative interest rates, held policy unchanged today but chairman Thomas Jordan warned that “the imminent UK referendum on whether to stay in the European Union may cause uncertainty and turbulence to increase”.

The Bank of Japan’s governor Haruhiko Kuroda also said it was in “close communication” with the Bank of England ahead of the critical vote, while the European Central Bank’s latest forecasts also flagged up Britain’s referendum as the key risk to a sluggish recovery in the single currency bloc.

In Threadneedle Street, the Bank of England, headed by Governor Mark Carney, was all but certain to hold interest rates at their record low 0.5% today.

However, a Brexit vote next week could see an emergency rate cut or a return to money printing to ride out economic turbulence.

Equity markets across Europe were on the back foot, falling up to 1%, as a dovish shift in tone from US Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen put investors on edge.

Yellen, who is also coping with a surprisingly weak US jobs market in May, also pointed to concerns over next week’s vote, saying it was “one of the factors” in its decision to hold rates.