How financial services firms can navigate political uncertainty

Weathering the storm

Much dialogue around Brexit’s impact on the City of London centred on what papers and politicians dubbed the ‘bonfire of rules’ – a phrase designed to capture the belief that onerous EU regulation was holding back UK financial sector performance.

These are complex issues, with opinion among financial services leaders on the ‘right' style and level of regulation as varied as the views we see across the political spectrum. If we were forced to generalise, many larger UK firms are hoping for post-Brexit regulatory stability balanced with reform in specific areas. Meanwhile new entrants are more likely to argue that existing regulation grandfathered in from the EU favours large incumbents and is anti-competitive. Enter the UK Financial Services and Markets (FSM) Bill, characterised as an attempt to ignite said bonfire, but primari...