Brexit and a life beyond!
Both the regulators and private individuals appear to be thinking of a life beyond Brexit, if Brexit takes place.
The free London business newspaper, "City AM", of 8th May 2019, carries an article, headed "City warned over getting caught in EU regulations". The Article reports on comments by Sir John Cunliffe, the Bank of England's deputy governor, warning against the City of London staying in the same financial regulatory structure as the EU without a say on future changes.
The Head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) , Andrew Bailey, is reported in the same article as saying that the UK could benefit from a "lower-burden" but presumably no less effective regulatory regime after Brexit. He is said to have talked in terms of the UK returning to "more flexible, principles and outcomes-based system".
Sir John Cunliffe appeared to agree with Mr Bailey's comments in being quoted as saying at a conference on the previous day:
"At some point post-Brexit, we will need to address [the current] rigidity and hard wiring of detail to ensure we have a coherent, effective and flexible [financial] regulatory system with appropriate accountability."
From a lawyer's perspective, one should be aware, however, that the greater that there is divergence between the UK and EU approaches to financial regulation, the less likely it might be that the current much-prized system of European passporting of financial regulation between EU member states could be put in place between the UK and the EU in the future.
On the subject of individuals and the investment of private wealth, it appears from another article in the same edition of "City AM" , citing UBS Wealth Management's latest investor sentiment survey, that 41% of high-net - worth individuals in the UK now believe that Brexit will be good for the economy as against 35% , who do not. According to the same survey, 44% of business owners in the UK now believe that Brexit will be positive for the economy and 28% believe that it will have no impact at all.
Currently, much political thought and public commentary around Brexit appears to some observers to be frozen in aspic and it is good to see that some regulators and individuals (as well as business owners) are beginning to think seriously about a post-Brexit future, in the event that that Brexit should take place.
