The Netherlands risks missing out on a potential 17,000 Brexit-generated jobs and up to €1bn in income tax revenues because of its strict rules around bonuses paid in the financial sector, according to employers organisation VNO-NCW.

The lobby group sounded the warning shot about what it terms ‘symbolic legislation’ ahead of a parliamentary debate on the issue.

The Netherlands has a fixed ceiling for financial sector bonuses of 20% of fixed pay while the EU as a whole has a cap of 100%.

VNO-NCW chairman Hans de Boer said in a statement the bonus cap is a futile proposal. ‘The Netherlands should stick to the EU rules and not price itself out of the market,’ De Boer said.

De Boer also told the Telegraaf he has been working with the government in deepest secrecy over the past few months in an attempt to lure several leading merchant banks to Amsterdam.

These are rumoured to include Switzerland’s UBS, JP Morgan Chase of New York and London-based Morgan Stanley. But the cap on bonuses will have to be scrapped before these banks move to the Netherlands, De Boer told the paper.

The ceiling does not apply to foreigners working in the Netherlands as long as the bank’s office there is not a head office.