The UK Financial Service Sector Post Brexit
Introduction
Brexit is basically the shorthand way of expressing that UK has left the
European Union. It is the fusion of the words Britain and exit – Brexit. It happened through a
referendum basically a vote in which everybody old enough to express their
choice was conducted on the 23th of June 2016 to decide whether UK should still
be a part of the European Union or not. 51.9% (as opposed to 48.1%) of the votes
supported that UK should leave (BBC.Com, 2019). The participation of the
voters was 71.8% and almost 30 million people had cast their opinion.
Impact of
Brexit on the UK Financial Services Sector
The immediate aftermath of the Brexit had a direct effect on the
financial sector. There was a plunge in the stock market. The sterling got a
blow. The confidence of the consumers or the investors received a big jolt.
Since then, the financial sector has been in the limelight for several reasons:
The financial sector of the UK happens to be one of the most influential
sector of the British economy (UK.Reuters.Com, 2019). Its
contribution to the total GDP of UK is almost 12%. That apart, it is also
responsible for the employment of more than 2 million people. Also, UK happens
to be the largest export entity and it constitutes almost half of the services
trading. The banks of Britain lend almost USD 1.4 trillion to the European
Union government and companies(Ig.com, 2019). Also, numerous financial transactions
that happen in Europe areeither directly or indirectly initiated or controlled
from London. In fact, more than 85% of the people employed with the US
investment banks in EU are employed by London(The SWIFT Institute,
2019).
Source:
(UK.Reuters.Com,
2019)
Now, the question is to what extent Brexit actually effected the
financial sector. An analysis of few issues and concerns of the financial
domain reveal the following worrying facts:
Pass porting
Pass porting is the process by which a British financial company (bank,
insurance, asset management institute, etc.) extends it services, whether
services or products, to EU (Grantthornton.co.uk, 2019). This is
done without any license or any sort of regulatory obligations or any local
setup or anything. Reports indicate that close to 5500 institutes in the UK
carry out business activities with EU through pass porting. And, the process is
a both way traffic. EU too trades with UK through the same mechanism. With
Brexit, it is obvious that the system of pass porting will no longer be
applicable(Grantthornton.co.uk, 2019).
Regulatory
Uncertainty
The second crucial concern of Brexit is the regulatory uncertainly. The
regulations have been the strength of Britain, the reason why London became the
financial capital of Europe(Grantthornton.co.uk, 2019). This
happened because of two reasons –The English laws with advantages like
insolvency regulations and debt issuance rules and the relaxed and employer
friendly British labor laws(Grantthornton.co.uk, 2019). However,
with Brexit things have simply become complicated. First, Britain will have to reviseEU
rules and trade practices that have been followed since over 40 years. This
will not just be time taking but many firms may not be able to hold for that
long. If this talent pool undergoes any change due to visa complications or job
loss probability, it’s obvious that these talents will go elsewhere(Grantthornton.co.uk,
2019).
Brain Drain
The third important impact of Brexit – Brain drain. This was the factor
for London’s rise. London has got world class and field specific talents(Grantthornton.co.uk,
2019).
Short term
prospects appear weak
Investment banks have started shifting their back office operations
elsewhere already and that is a huge effect.
Source:
(Grantthornton.co.uk,
2019)
There is no doubt that there are more consequences of the Brexit that
are still in store. The train has left and there cannot be any turning back
now. The fact is that something has crumbled that was otherwise pretty
efficient since more than three decades (Taylor, 2019). It seems
obvious that there will be prolonged period of business uncertainty post Brexit
in Europe. There is still uncertainty how things will play out over the coming
years, something which is not on the brighter side.
Reference:
Brexit Britain's
financial sector faces 'slow puncture'. UK.Reuters.Com (2019).
Retrieved from https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-city-insight/brexit-britains-financial-sector-faces-slow-puncture-idUKKBN1OA1SN
Brexit: All you need
to know. BBC.Com (2019). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887
Grantthornton.co.uk(2019).
Retrieved from
https://www.grantthornton.co.uk/globalassets/1.-member-firms/united-kingdom/pdf/brexit-impact-financial-services.pdf
How will Brexit
impact UK financial services?Ig.com (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.ig.com/uk/news-and-trade-ideas/other-news/how-will-brexit-impact-uk-banks-and-financial-services---181114
Taylor, C. (2019).
UK financial services industry moves $1 trillion in assets to Europe due to
Brexit, survey says. Retrieved from
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/07/brexit-uk-financial-services-sector-moves-1-trillion-in-assets-to-eu.html
The Impact of Brexit
on the Financial Services Industry | the SWIFT Institute. (2019). Retrieved
from https://swiftinstitute.org/newsletters/the-impact-of-brexit-on-the-financial-services-industry/
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