EU and UK agree a financial services cooperation pact

Reference:CGTN | Updated:27 Mar 2021

The European Union and the UK have agreed a new pact over financial services cooperation, but it will not go as far as reconnecting the City of London to the bloc after Brexit.

The agreement, which is yet to be signed, comes months after a wider trade deal was put in place.

"Formal steps need to be undertaken on both sides before the memorandum of understanding [MoU] can be signed but it is expected that this can be done expeditiously," the UK's finance ministry said in a statement.

Once signed, the MoU will create the framework for voluntary cooperation in financial services by setting up the Joint UK-EU Financial Regulatory Forum, the ministry said.

Brussels has said an MoU will not lead automatically to financial market access for British firms, after the country's full departure from the EU on December 31 left the City of London largely cut off from the bloc.

In January, more than $8.3 billion in daily share trading left London for Amsterdam, along with swathes of trading in derivatives. Brussels is now targeting the clearing of euro swaps, still dominated by the London Stock Exchange's LCH arm.

The agreement is similar to what the EU already has with the U.S. for arranging regular, informal and non-binding meetings of financial regulators.

So far, the EU has declined to grant any long-term direct access for financial firms from Britain, saying this week that it was in no rush.

"Overall, for investors in UK financial services, a greater degree of cooperation between Europe and the UK can only be seen in a favorable light," said Alan Custis, head of UK equities at Lazard Asset Management.

"But it still feels as though the UK needs to continue to plow its own furrow in case there is a change of heart."

Jonathan Hill, a former EU financial services commissioner, said this week that Britain should not sit around for access, known as equivalence, but focus on making the City more attractive to international investors.

"Achieving a form of equivalence with the EU is essential but it should not detract us from the real challenge: making London and other financial capitals in Europe more competitive relative to the fast-growing U.S. and Asian markets," said Daniel Pinto, CEO of Stanhope Capital.