The £100bn parasite bankers: City sharks work through the night to make a killing on the result of the referendum

• Hedge funds commissioned private exit polls to steal a march on the official declaration
• Armed with the advance information – and a £100billion war chest – their traders went on an all-night 'feeding frenzy'
• They are thought to have put huge bets on currencies and other markets
• Bank chiefs laid on sushi, pizzas and bunk-beds to keep their traders fresh
• MPs said the public would be disgusted by the casino-style wagers 

By Sam Greenhill and James Salmon and James Burton For The Daily Mail

Shameless bankers were last night gambling billions of pounds on the EU referendum.

Hedge funds had commissioned private exit polls to steal a march on the official declaration.

Armed with the advance information – and a £100billion war chest – their traders went on an all-night 'feeding frenzy'.

They are thought to have placed huge bets on currencies and other markets, hoping to clean up by the time stock exchanges opened today.

MPs said the public – up to 40million of whom voted – would be disgusted by the casino-style wagers on the nation's future.

Voters queued in torrential rain and waded through deep water to have their say on Europe.

Tonight, Nigel Farage appeared to concede defeat, saying Remain had 'edged it'. As a YouGov poll of 5,000 voters showed a 52:48 victory for In:

- An operation to 'Save Dave' was launched by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove to stop the Prime Minister being ousted by Eurosceptic MPs;

- Official figures revealed the population rocketed by half a million last year, largely fuelled by mass immigration;

- Calls were made for Britain's top civil servant to be hauled before Parliament for presiding over a 'pro-EU propaganda machine'.

Bank chiefs laid on sushi, pizzas and bunk-beds to keep their traders fresh throughout the night, with the reward of Champagne breakfasts. One analyst said it promised to be the biggest night of many traders' careers.

Investors could gamble almost £100billion on the outcome of the knife-edge poll, according to Barclays.

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John Mann (pictured), a Labour member of the Commons Treasury committee, said: 'Here we go again. This shows the difference between all of us and the false world these City traders and bankers live in – gambling with other people's money'

Chris Leslie, Labour's former shadow chancellor, said: 'There is something very parasitical about trying to gamble on the back of the fate of the nation. While I am not surprised the City is watching this vote closely, it does leave you with a slightly bitter taste.

'My main concern is that markets are stable and ordinary people's savings and pensions are not put on the line in some grand gamble.'

John Mann, a Labour member of the Commons Treasury committee, said: 'Here we go again. This shows the difference between all of us and the false world these City traders and bankers live in – gambling with other people's money.

'Bankers have hit the living standards and jobs of people across the country. They set an appalling example to everyone. It can't get any lower than this. The country will come together and unite in anger.' Unlike at general elections, broadcasters did not commission exit polls because of fears over their accuracy. That has allowed banks to do their own polling and gain crucial trading information.

Foreign currency dealers will have been able to exploit their advantage through the night because their markets stay open 24 hours.

Economists have told Bloomberg the pound will either sink to its lowest level in more than three decades, in the event of Brexit, or climb to the highest level this year if the public votes to remain.

Knowing the likely result in advance will enable traders to buy low and sell high.

And while the London Stock Exchange was closed, traders could prepare to bet on shares going down when it reopened today – the practice known as short-selling.

As well as causing global financial meltdowns with their reckless behaviour, greedy bankers have rigged the crucial Libor interest rate market and have been caught in a string of mis-selling scandals.

Barclays said around £95billion is waiting to be invested by clients. Much of this will be from pension and hedge funds, which have been waiting until the results of the referendum became clearer before placing their bets. Banks can also gamble their own money.

One of the biggest 'short' gamblers could be US asset management firm BlackRock, which employs Chancellor George Osborne's former chief of staff Rupert Harrison.

Data from the Financial Conduct Authority showed 134 asset managers worldwide had 427 'short positions' on firms they believed would fall in value. BlackRock was by far the biggest, with 51 of these.

Last night City workers could barely contain their excitement. One described the referendum as 'an incredible opportunity to make money', while a stockbroker said there would be 'Champagne breakfasts all round' for relieved pro-Brussels bankers if Britain voted to remain in the EU.

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Barclays said around £95bn is waiting to be invested by clients. Much of this will be from pension and hedge funds, which have been waiting until the results of the referendum became clearer before placing their bets

Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and US giants such as JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup were among those calling in senior traders and workers to 'pull all-nighters'.

Market analyst Tony Cross, of Trustnet Direct, said currency and market traders were getting set for 'the biggest night of their careers', adding that if Britain did vote for Brexit then they could be camped at their desks for days.

Crispin Odey, the founder of Odey Asset Management who made much of his estimated £900million fortune from predicting the financial crisis, is among those to have seen private polling of voters. He is one of the most high profile Brexiteers in the City.

With Remain ahead in opinion polls, investors have piled into sterling.