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Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan attends a news conference in Frankfurt, 28 January 2016. Photo: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach 

“We are competing on a global basis. If we don’t act, financial hubs in the European Union will not benefit from the chances that Brexit offers,” he said in a speech in Berlin.

“The answer to this global competition has to be a more integrated capital market in the EU, and as quickly as possible,” he added.    

Global banks and insurers have begun signalling how they will put into action plans to cope with a “hard” exit from the EU, after Prime Minister Theresa May said that Britain would leave the single market. 

Alternative European financial centres to London, including Frankfurt, Paris, Dublin and Luxembourg, have also been looking at ways of getting businesses to relocate to them when Britain leaves the EU.

Barclays, for example, is preparing to make Dublin its EU headquarters for when Britain leaves the European Union, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Cryan said London would become less attractive as a result of Brexit, despite its unique characteristics and the infrastructure that has been built up over many decades.

But Frankfurt, where Deutsche Bank is based, was a natural winner: “We see our home city as on the ascent - Frankfurt will become more important.” 

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer and Victoria Bryan; Editing by Alexander Smith)