The EU Wants to Make Its Bankers More Fireable

German efficiency is about to catch up with American corporate ruthlessness.

Germany’s Handelsblatt financial newspaper reported on Thursday that the government is planning to make it easier for companies in the financial sector to fire high-earning employees. It’s a move aimed at enticing big American banks to set up European HQs in Germany’s finance hub, Frankfurt — but Germany isn’t the only EU country trying to win over Wall Street.

The Americans Are Coming

Ever since Britain left the European Union, making London no longer a conduit to the continent’s financial systems, big American banks have been shopping around the best EU countries to call home. The problem for some US mega banks has been a severe culture shock when it comes to EU labor laws. Some US banks headed for Paris, but were shocked at France’s laws prohibiting when you can fire someone, or else mandating hefty severance packages. For banks like Goldman Sachs — which is used to cutting 3-5% of its employees in any given year just to keep things fresh — that’s an issue.

France, like Germany, tried to introduce new laws to make bankers easier targets for dismissal, but it hit a barricade:

• That legislation was proposed by Emmanuel Macron, who lost the presidency after calling a chaotic snap election, so it’s now stuck in limbo (although it had already run into some regulatory roadblocks before Macron blew up his majority). Germany is striking while the iron’s chaud.
• A German government document seen by Bloomberg included incentives for banks, such as raising the threshold on tax-free employee share ownership and tax cuts for investments in venture capital.

Two-Way Street: While Germany tries to tempt US banks onto the banks of the Main, it’s also trying to make inroads with America’s wealthy on its home turf. Fortune reported last month that Deutsche Bank is targeting a big expansion in the US wealth management market, setting itself up as a European rival to Wall Street.