I was interviewed by the Financial Times Adviser about a new agreement between the UK and the EU to cooperate on financial services. This has caused excitement in some quarters that have framed the agreement as a sort of 'mini Remain' and a precursor to returning to EU-driven laws. But hold on... the Government has signed up to a (helpful) talking shop and not a commitment to cede sovereignty on either side.
See my comments below and read the full article here.
But Gavin Haran, head of policy for asset management at Macfarlanes, cautioned: "This is a positive step but we have to be realistic about what the agreement does and does not do.
"Essentially, the MoU establishes a talking shop for the UK and the EU to discuss matters relating to financial services cooperation between the two jurisdictions, based on the existing EU-US model. It does not compel either side to closer cooperation, such as by agreeing mutual equivalence and ensuring market access.
"Regardless, it is helpful to firms operating across borders that there will be an established forum for the jurisdictions to discuss tricky issues such as divergence, equivalence, and shared standards."
Haran said: "In some areas the UK government has committed to diverge from EU rules, such as retail investment disclosures, albeit typically in a way that targets specific rules rather than via a broad-stroke deregulation.
"The government wants to create a more dynamic and competitive financial services sector by permitting more risk in the system and by adopting a regulatory regime that is better tailored to the UK’s interests.
"The MoU doesn’t undermine the UK’s flexibility to do this, or indeed to make financial services-related agreements with other jurisdictions such as Singapore."
