LONDON, Feb 5 — The head of London's City finance district predicts “challenging” post-Brexit talks but is hopeful of a financial services deal with Brussels by the end of 2020, she said yesterday.
Catherine McGuinness, policy chair of the City of London Corporation, made the remarks at a press conference at the headquarters of the local government authority for the British capital's finance zone.
“There are going to be some challenging conversations,” McGuinness told reporters after Britain had departed from the European Union last Friday and entered into an 11-month transition period.
Negotiations between London and Brussels would be “intricate” over the issue of financial services, which would retain an essential economic role after Brexit, she added.
“Our sector may be not as picturesque as others” like fishing, she noted, “but it is crucially important” for the UK economy.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative government hopes to clinch a comprehensive free trade agreement on goods and services with the EU before the Brexit transition period expires on December 31.
“It is a very ambitious timetable to reach an agreement,” added McGuinness yesterday.
“We can reach a sensible agreement by the end of the year.”
She talked down speculation that London would embrace deregulation for the sector.
“We're not hearing any demands for a bonfire regulation... We will remain well regulated” after Brexit, she added.
The City will eventually lose “passporting” rights that have allowed the driver of Britain's dominant services sector to operate freely across the bloc.
The long-standing bilateral arrangement, which has convinced especially large US and Japanese lenders to set up huge operations in London, formally ends with the conclusion of a Brexit transition period due December 31.
Britain must now move onto so-called “equivalence,” whereby financial firms agree to meet EU rules to maintain access to its market.
McGuinness meanwhile cited an EY study which estimates that up to 7,000 jobs in the financial sector have been moved from London to the continent because of Brexit. — AFP
