More Than 100 City Bosses Back EU 'Leave' Vote

More than 100 City finance chiefs, including hedge fund managers Crispin Odey and Paul Marshall, have signed a letter backing Britain's withdrawal from the European Union.

In a letter released by the official Vote Leave group ahead the referendum on 23 June, the financial services bosses said getting out of the EU would help strengthen London's position as the only financial capital to rival New York.

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The investors said that while membership had been good for Britain and London since 1973, it no longer made sense as the EU had failed to support innovation and was now tied to a struggling eurozone.

The signatories said: "There is scant evidence that the EU will foster or support the kind of innovation which is essential if Europeans are to compete with the rest of the world.

"The EU is now shackled to the euro, a project doing damage to the social and economic fabric of member countries, including high youth unemployment.

"Many of us worry that the eurozone's problems may prove insurmountable."

The list of signatories included Odey, a founding partner at Odey Asset Management, Marshall, chairman of Marshall Wace, Peter Hargreaves, a founder of investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown (LSE: HL.L - news) , and Michael Geoghegan, a former CEO of HSBC.

Other signatories include Dominic Burke, group CEO at Jardine Lloyd Thompson (LSE: JLT.L - news) , Peter Cruddas, chief executive at CMC Markets (LSE: CMCX.L - news) , and Luke Johnson, founder of Risk Capital Partners.

The letter is designed to counter the impression that the overwhelming majority of business and finance bosses back a Remain vote.

Leading business figures including chairmen or chief executives at BT, Marks & Spencer (Other OTC: MAKSF - news) , Kingfisher (LSE: KGF.L - news) and Vodafone signed a Remain letter to The Times in February.

But the signatories of the Vote Leave letter said continued EU membership was now a threat to London's prosperity.

"We worry that the EU's approach to regulation now poses a genuine threat to our financial services industry and to the competitiveness of the City of London (LSE: CIN.L - news) ," the letter said.

"Assuming good political leadership and an effective regulatory environment, we believe that the City is most likely to strengthen its lead as the world's largest international financial centre, and continue to make a major contribution to the UK economy and employment, outside the EU but with continued access to its capital markets," the letter said.

Vote Leave boss Matthew Elliott said: "Far from the picture of doom and gloom painted by the Government, it is clear that the City of London would not only retain its pre-eminence as the world's most important financial centre, but would also thrive after freeing herself from the EU's regulatory shackles (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) ."