Lords Committee to ask if financial services could be deal breaker in EU/US investment partnership

The financial services sector comes under special scrutiny this Thursday by the Lords Committee investigating the ground-breaking trade deal between the EU and the US.

The House of Lords EU Sub-Committee on External Affairs is seeking different perspectives within the financial services sector, including TheCityUK, Lloyd's Insurance and the Financial Conduct Authority, on whether trying to pin down an agreement on financial services regulation could derail the entire agreement. The position of the US on including financial services in the deal is in stark contrast to that of much of the EU.

The Lords Committee is holding an inquiry to look at the benefits, both to the EU and the UK, of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which was launched earlier this year.

At 10.35am the Committee will hear from Gary Campkin, Director, International Strategy, TheCityUK and Alastair Evans, Head of Government Affairs, Lloyd's Insurance. At 11.30am the Committee will hear from David Lawton, Director of Markets, Financial Conduct Authority.

Questions the witnesses will face include: 

• What arguments can the UK use to get financial services included?
• What is needed to promote engagement and build trust between EU and US regulators?
• What sort of regulatory dialogue is in place already between the EU and the US on financial services?
• What would be wrong with allowing this dialogue to run its course on a parallel track outside the TTIP?
• Could the broad portfolio of “financial services” be slimmed down to make it easier to push through?

The evidence session will take place at 10.35am on Thursday 5 December in Committee Room 1 of the House of Lords.

The session will be webcast at www.parliamentlive.tv and is also open to the public. Journalists wishing to attend should go to Parliament's Cromwell Green Entrance and should allow time for security screening.