George Soros spooks markets with Europe financial crisis warning

Billionaire investor George Soros warned that the EU may be heading towards another major financial crisis, spooking the markets on Tuesday morning.

Giving the keynote address at a meeting organised by think-tank the European Council on Foreign Relations in Paris, Soros criticised Brexit, warned on the European Union’s future and highlighted the key problems facing the EU.

Soros, whose pro-European Open Society Foundation donated £400 million to the Remain campaign, said the EU was in the midst of an “existential crisis” and said Brexit was likely to be “immensely damaging”.

Soros said the EU’s three key problems were the refugee crisis, territorial disintegration exemplified by Brexit and an austerity policy that has “hindered Europe’s economic development”.

He added that “everything that could go wrong in Europe, has gone wrong”.

He also warned that the strength in the dollar is taking focus away from emerging market currencies, which alongside the collapse of the Iran deal, is set to create trouble for Europe.

“We may be heading for another major financial crisis,” he said.

The FTSE 100, which was already trading down this morning due to worries over Italy and Spain, fell further on Soros’s speech, currently down 1.32 percent at 7,627.90 (1024GMT).