The UK will not accept protectionist agendas from the EU on financial services regulation, chancellor Philip Hammond has said.
The European Union does have legitimate concerns about the oversight and supervision of financial markets in the UK that provide services to EU firms and citizens, Hammond told a dinner held by UK Finance.
The UK will address these concerns by making "forward-leaning" proposals for greater transparency, cooperation and standards based on international norms, but it will "not accept protectionist agendas, disguised as arguments about financial stability", he said.
The UK will continue to have "the most robust regulatory and supervisory regime – to protect our taxpayers from having to step in to deal with failure", Hammond said.
"Whatever the outcome of the negotiations, we must ensure that firms are able to operate within a workable regime at the point of exit and beyond," he said.
Financial regulation expert Tobin Ashby of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com said: "The chancellor is giving some insight into the likely positioning for financial services for the next round of negotiations and there is a suggestion of a possible compromise on supervision."
"While this may cause concern if the UK is unable to influence the direction of EU supervision, it is at least encouraging for UK financial services firms that the chancellor has been specific on the dangers of what he refers to as 'protectionist agendas' and it will be interesting to see how this principle translates into the positioning papers," he said.
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