Soros warns Brexit would trigger Black Friday immediately

“If the U.K. votes to leave the EU, it will have a ‘Black Friday’ immediately.”

Legendary hedge fund manager George Soros warned that a British vote to leave the European Union could trigger an immediate economic crisis. Soros said in his column in the Guardian on Monday, “A vote to leave the EU would have an immediate and dramatic impact on financial markets, investment, prices and jobs.”

“Too many believe that a vote to leave the EU will have no effect on their personal financial position. This is wishful thinking,” he wrote. “It would have at least one very clear and immediate effect that will touch every household: the value of the pound would decline precipitously.”

When the U.K. and Germany had currency war over economic power in Europe in 1992, the billionaire investor made a substantial profit of one billion dollars by betting more than 10 billion dollars on the fall of the pound. This made him known as the man who broke the Bank of England.

Soros expected this deval‎uation to be bigger and more disruptive than the 15 percent deval‎uation that occurred in September 1992. “Today, there are speculative forces in the markets much bigger and more powerful. And they will be eager to exploit any miscalculations by the British government or British voters. A vote for Brexit would make some people very rich – but most voters considerably poorer," Soros said. “A vote to leave could see the week end with a Black Friday, and serious consequences for ordinary people.”

"If Brexit happens, it will be detrimental to the U.K. and it will have a negative impact to the whole of Europe," CK Hutchison Holding Ltd. Chairman Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s richest man, told Bloomberg in an interview on Tuesday. CK Hutchison Holdings, which is one of his core businesses, generates 37 percent of its revenue in the U.K., reflecting a close relationship with the British economy. Following his comment in March, Lee said again he would scale down investments in the U.K. if it leaves the EU.

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