Sir Kenneth Clarke, former Conservative chancellor, has said Brexit will not significantly impact on the competitiveness of the City of London as a financial centre.
Sir Kenneth was chancellor from 1993 to 1997, and advocated a remain vote in the European Union membership referendum.
He said he does not support having another referendum on the subject.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Spectator magazine in London, Sir Kenneth said he expects the decision of the UK to leave the EU to have a negative impact on the economy and on the UK's "place in the world" but added it was "preposterous" to suggest the City of London would lose its preeminent place as a financial centre.
He said: "The City of London is a global centre, all of the different people in the system are here in one place, and that is an enormous advantage that will not go away because of Brexit.
"But bits of the business done by the City of London will be lost as a result of business, such as international clearing."
His comments came in light of the European Union stating that it will allow temporary access to EU firms for clearing services in the UK.
David Scott, investment manager at Andrews Gwynne, said he has changed nothing in his clients portfolios in preparation for Brexit.
He said: "Brexit is just part of the bigger problem, with (US President) Donald Trump and trade wars also part of it. But it is global problem, a steep recession is coming globally."
Sir Kenneth's comments come as the ratings agency Standard & Poor's stated it would expect a no deal Brexit to lead to a recession in the UK.
David Coombs, multi-asset fund manager at Rathbones, agreed it was hard to see how a recession could be avoided if there is a no-deal Brexit.
But Alastair Mundy, who runs the £1bn Investec UK Special Situations fund, said: "When people talk about Brexit fear, what they mean is fear of recession. And while no one likes recessions, we have had those before and know what assets to buy."
david.thorpe@ft.com
