Brexit and a view from the Financial Markets Law Committee

The Financial Markets Law Committee ( FMLC) is a registered charity which is committed to advancing the understanding of financial services law.

According to its own description, the FMLC has defined its role to be "to identify issues of legal uncertainty or misunderstanding, present and future, in the framework of the wholesale financial markets which might give rise to material risks and to consider how such issues should be addressed".

Not surprisingly, therefore, the FMLC has views on the impact of Brexit ( and indeed Brexit-related uncertainty) on the financial markets and on 5th November 2019 published a 32-page "addendum" to its earlier report of 13th July 2017 on issues of legal uncertainty arising from Brexit.

The addendum provides an update on no- deal contingency planning initiatives undertaken by the European Commission and by the UK, as well as preparations by individual EU member states,  since the date of the July 2017 report and considers the impact on financial services firms of those developments.

Most importantly , however, the addendum proposes measures for an enhanced equivalence regime to be put in place between the EU and the UK so that financial services can flow smoothly between those jurisdictions. Such a framework would depend on the use of transparent criteria for equivalence determinations acceptable to both the EU and the UK. 

"Equivalence" is at the forefront of current Brexit - related jargon and nowhere more so than in the context of the financial services sector.

At a time when the attention of both the UK and the EU is focused on the outcome of the forthcoming UK General Election due to be held on 12th December 2019, it is good to see  the FMLC reminding interested parties of some of the practical consequences of Brexit for the important financial services industry.