“Ministers should seek to rectify this, consult
widely, and focus their efforts on how the U.K.’s
global leadership in services industries like
ours can be sustained and enhanced over the
course of this Parliament,” Chief Executive Miles
Celic said.
Financial services alone accounted for 6.9%
of the U.K. economy and generated 29 billion
pounds ($38.6 billion) of tax revenue in the
2017-18 fiscal year. Related professional services
such as accounting and legal services push the
industry’s total contribution to 10% of GDP.
The EU has already rejected Britain’s continued
participation in the bloc’s ``passporting”
system, which allows financial firms that are
authorized in any EU country to do business
across the European Economic Area, which
comprises all 28 EU countries plus Iceland,
Norway and Liechtenstein.
That leaves Britain and the EU to determine so-
called “equivalence” agreements, which would
permit limited access to specified areas if both
sides agree to align regulations. Such agreements
can be canceled by either side, however, and are
subject to wider political considerations.
“This is going to leave loads of uncertainty
because these things are not going to be
negotiated in a hurry,” said Vicky Pryce, chief
economic adviser at the London-based Centre
for Economics and Business Research.
Johnson’s government has said it is seeking a
``Canada-style free-trade agreement,” stressing
that the EU’s deal with Canada covers trade
in services.