UK's financial services industry urgently needs a transitional deal
In a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Baroness Falkner, Chair of the EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee has called for the urgent agreement of a post-Brexit standstill transition period for the financial services sector.
This is in response to the weight of evidence the Committee has received during its current inquiry into the future of financial regulation and supervision following Brexit.
Baroness Falkner of Margravine, Chair of the EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee, said:
“The clock is relentlessly ticking. Witness, after witness, told us that financial services industry won't be able to continue servicing cross-border clients after 2019 if a transition period is not agreed by the end of this year. The UK's financial services industry will be severely hit – as will EU counterparties.
“The more the Government waits, the more the value of such a period irreversibly declines. A trickle of banks and insurers have started to implement their contingency plans ahead of access to the Single Market being suspended in March 2019. The Government must urgently negotiate a transition period to stop this trickle turning into a flood.”
The Committee has requested a swift response from the Chancellor to this letter.
