According to Reuters, Valls spoke at an annual conference on France’s financial industry on Wednesday.
“We want to build the financial capital of the future.
“In a word, now is the time to come to France,” he said.
Home to Europe’s second largest population of Brits (172,000), France already has a favourable tax scheme for expats and French nationals returning home from stints abroad. This would be extended from the current first five years in France to eight years, said Valls.
The regime includes deductions for non-salary perks, such as employers paying for revenue earned on capital held abroad, as well as paying children’s school fees.
Paris is looking to take advantage of the uncertainty surrounding Britain’s EU passporting status following the country’s unprecedented decision last month to leave the EU.
Under the current system, financial services firms headquartered in EU member states have the automatic right to sell services across the 28-nation bloc with low costs and a single set of rules known as ‘passporting’.
Valls said the government is considering setting up an advice service for foreign firms seeking a foothold in France with service in languages other than French.
The news comes as Britain’s chancellor George Osborne, in an interview published by the Financial Times on Sunday, announced plans to further reduce corporation tax to below 15% as part of his five-point plan to galvanise the UK’s post-Brexit economy.
