Post-Brexit Reform of Financial Services Announced

Andrew Griffith, the UK City of London minister, has stated the UK government’s intent to revamp the regulation of the investment and insurance sectors.  

Earlier this month he unveiled over 30 reforms “to unlock investment and turbocharge growth in towns and cities across the UK”.

Last week the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, set out plans to repeal and replace EU retained laws governing financial services. This will establish a new regulatory framework for the UK with the aim of making it more agile, less costly, and more responsive to emerging trends.

These plans included a commitment to make substantial legislative progress over the course of 2023 on repealing and replacing EU-era rules governing insurers’ balance sheets. This is expected to unlock over £100 billion of private investment for productive assets such as UK infrastructure.

The work to repeal, and where appropriate replace, retained EU law governing the sector has been guided by industry and split into two initial tranches. These will focus on delivering reform to areas which provide the most significant boost to UK growth and competitiveness, and the government will set out further detail on future tranches over time.

These announcements deliver the next chapter in the government’s plan for a UK financial services sector that is open, sustainable, and technologically advanced; one that is globally competitive and acts in the interests of communities and citizens.

As announced in the Autumn Statement, the government will look to announce changes to EU regulations in four other high growth industries by the end of next year, including digital technology, life sciences, green industries, and advanced manufacturing.

See: Edinburgh Reforms hail next chapter for UK Financial Services - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)