The UK Government is desperate to cling on to London’s reputation as one of Europe’s key financial hubs long after it quits the union.
But some firms seem to have other ideas, threatening to ditch the British capital in a move to the continent.
Now Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has waded into the furore after he revealed his hopes of moving European Union banking supervision to Germany after the UK quits the Brussels bloc.
The concentration of the European financial industry in London could be about to crash to an end as Brexit negotiations cast uncertainty on the capital's future.
Experts have already warned the financial centre will suffer drastically after Brexit as firms look elsewhere for their business.
Academics estimate up to 30 per cent of jobs could migrate to Frankfurt or Paris as large financial institutions expand to the European mainland.
While smaller banks are expected to merge with companies in Frankfurt and Paris.
In January, representatives from Germany’s financial watchdog BaFin met 50 or so foreign banking envoys, including representatives from Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, to discuss how best to move their operations to Germany.
Peter Lutz, who led the banking supervision arm at the time, said: “Foreign banks are welcome.”
And it seems Frankfurt could reap the rewards of the move, and potentially see a total of 10,000 jobs relocated there from London.
Mr Schäuble claims the financial centre there has "an all-in-one feature compared to all other financial centres”.
Frankfurt's traffic-friendly connections and the wide range of qualified staff are also a selling point for a move to the city, according to a leaked document presented to his cabinet colleagues.
"For an immediate settlement in Frankfurt, several interesting properties are available in a central location," it says.
The federal government thinks its chances are good - and believes the move will be necessary after Brexit.
While it claims the city’s competitors show very little competition.
Copenhagen, Warsaw and Stockholm are still very small financial centres with a low potential of skilled workers.
Dublin is too far away from Brussels, and the importance of Paris as a financial centre was waning.
For Germany, Frankfurt is the only option.
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