On Tuesday Bank of France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said that Paris could become a beneficiary of the UK's exit from the EU, and that "Brexit is bad news, first and foremost for the UK," not France.
"Paris isn't the only financial center in the euro area, but it has everything it needs to be one of the best," de Galhau.
The day after the June 23 referendum, Valerie Pecresse, head of the Paris regional government, wrote to thousands of British company executives, extolling the benefits of life in Paris and asking them to consider moving their operations there.
She told French newspaper Le Monde that Paris is not the only city aiming to tempt British and international firms away from the UK, and that she is trying to give the French capital the upper hand.
"All European cities are working hard to repatriate the companies which want to leave the UK. There are thousands of jobs at stake. It is absolutely vital that we roll out the red carpet. I told them, 'Welcome to the Paris region!'" Pecresse said.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls was also quick to extol the virtues of Paris as a financial center.
"We know that groups based in the City are planning to leave for Dublin, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris," Valls told Le Parisien on July 2.
"We are working on initiatives that could help reinforce our attractiveness," the Prime Minister explained.
Paris' opportunistic reaction to Brexit comes after warnings it sent across the Channel about the consequences of leaving the EU.
A year ago, French newspaper Le Monde warned the British that "Brexit could be your Waterloo," referring to the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 that ended the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte, and of the First French Empire.
"Today, we solemnly say to our friends across the Channel: beware, Brexit could be your Waterloo! And to make sure the message is really heard, we have gone as far as to convey it in English."
British Euroscepticism
However, it appears the British were either not listening, or not convinced.
Keith Boyfield, a research fellow at the Center for Policy Studies, told RT that such a campaign from across the Channel was to be expected.
"They'll do everything they can to try and lure people over to Paris, I would have been surprised if they hadn't launched such a bid. I'm not quaking in my shoes, I think we can see off the French without a problem."
A day after the Brexit vote Allister Heath, business journalist and editor of London-based City A.M., wrote in the UK's Daily Telegraph that "there will be some short-term pain but Brexit will make us richer."
"The 28-member EU has proved useless at negotiating proper free trade deals with the rest of the world."
"Nearly all economists opposed Brexit; over the next five years, they will be proved not just a little but completely wrong," he predicted.
Europe's "Vultures are Circling"
Paris is not the only European capital seeking to capitalize on Brexit.
On Tuesday Germany's Freie Demokraten liberal political party hired a colorful van to drive around London, with a slogan on its side urging start-ups to "keep calm and move to Berlin."
The vultures are circling 🇩🇪… #london #Berlin #brexit #startups pic.twitter.com/ge9Ls0RoRE
— Stephen Morris (@sjhmorris) 5 июля 2016 г.
Amsterdam is also keen to position itself as a candidate, and two days after the Brexit vote Dutch newspaper Volkskrant reported sources in the city administration, who declared that Asian businesses have already expressed interest in moving there from the UK.
"I won't name names, but a number of Asian companies operating in the finance sector, with offices in London, have made contact with us in recent weeks," the spokesman said.
"They now want to transfer a large part of their activities to Amsterdam, and carry out their operations in mainland Europe from there."
