UK asset managers face 'challenging' fight for bespoke Brexit agreement

Stumbling blocks ahead

UK asset management firms are better placed than the country's wider financial sector to maintain partial access to the European market following Brexit, but the sector is likely to face a number of bureaucratic stumbling blocks before a "bespoke agreement" is reached, according to law firm Dechert.

With the Supreme Court last week ruling the UK government must hold a parliamentary vote before triggering Article 50 and beginning the process of leaving the European Union, many have expressed concerns the UK will be unable to reach an agreement within the two-year timeframe currently slated for its departure. Richard Frase, a partner at Dechert, said lengthy European negotiations and a lack of focus from the UK parliament are likely to turn negotiations for the future distribution of UK funds across Europe into a "challenging exercise", despite a level of EU equivalency already in pla...