LONDON — The U.K. has not included demands for a financial services chapter in its official negotiating strategy for upcoming negotiations with the EU, despite former Chancellor Sajid Javid previously suggesting it would.
The policy paper published today is aligned with the EU position that trading in financial services would take place on the basis of the equivalence regime and regulatory cooperation.
The U.K. said that since both sides have the same laws, equivalence decisions from the EU on key sectors of the financial industry should be forthcoming by June. London also said that trade talks “could include appropriate consultation and structured processes for the withdrawal of equivalence findings, to facilitate the enduring confidence which underpins trade in financial services.”
In its own mandate, the EU opened the door to talks about providing some legal structure to withdrawal of equivalence, but said it reserves the “unilateral” right to make these decisions as it sees fit.
The Brits also hope to enshrine regulatory cooperation into the trade agreement, in a similar way to the EU-Japan deal, according to its policy paper.