“You cannot fully benefit from our social model, in particular on unemployment benefits, and at the same time have the remuneration that goes with this type of job,” he said, noting that “today, the cost of firing a very well-paid trader is very high.”

Holroyd warned the changes were still a work in progress, and that they might prove tricky from a legal standpoint given the difficulty of defining which jobs would be affected. Commodity traders in the energy sector could fall within the scope, he hinted.

Holroyd said the new bill was part of a French push at the EU level to make it easier for businesses to access private finance.

The bill would also encourage private equity firms to invest in French firms by extending the pool of companies eligible for private equity funding. Currently only companies with a market capitalization under €150 million are eligible; that threshold would be raised to €500 million.

Other measures include simplifying the procedure to raise fresh funds, for instance by limiting the rights of existing shareholders to have a say on new capital raises. It would also make it easier to hold shareholder and board meetings online.

Since Brexit, France has stepped up efforts to make Paris more appealing as a financial hub by offering fiscal benefits and softening the country’s infamously rigid labor law. As a result the Paris region gained around 2,800 finance jobs between 2016 and 2022, beating Frankfurt, according to a 2022 study by consultancy EY.

At the end of last year the government said it wanted to attract other financial actors besides banks, such as private equity funds and sovereign funds, and announced a new round of measures.

The text is to be discussed in the French parliament April 8.