Brexit dominated the agenda for many businesses based in the City for the past few years, and concerns remain for our future international relationships. I'm optimistic that the UK's new trading arrangement with the EU is workable, and the UK is finding many new opportunities in the wider world.
Between 2016 and 2020 I had a number of priorities and I summarise them here:
Support for Professional and Financial services - ensuring the needs of the insurance, finance and professions are considered to maximise their opportunities post Brexit.
Given Tower Ward's business concentration on Insurance I supported the London Markets requests of:-
- The need for a guarantee that the London Insurance Market will be considered to have regulatory equivalence with the EU.
- A new trade deal with the EU, which gives both UK and EU insurers, reinsurers and brokers continued rights to undertake cross border activity.
- Early agreement on an implementation period to avoid a cliff edge on the day the UK leaves the EU.
It is also in sufficient for some parts of the insurance to have transitional provisions because they have obligations that might run many years under insurance contracts, and they need to know how they will be to service those agreements legitimately placed before Brexit once the UK leaves the UK. I'm pleased to be talking to the Association of British Insurers about how best to support the industry with these issues, and they set them out clearly here - https://www.abi.org.uk/news/news-articles/2017/08/terms-allowing-insurers-to-service-contracts-post-brexit-need-to-be-part-of-exit-negotiations/
Not all is negative, and I commend the work of the Association of British Insurers to highlight how 'Britain can thrive' see here fore more information - https://www.abi.org.uk/about-the-abi/helping-britain-thrive/
With my interest in Legal Services - I supported rights of appearance in EU courts for UK lawyers, and addressing the needs in intellectual property which are unique due to the pan European nature of trade marks designs and patents. We had some success but the representation rights we hoped for were not offered by the EU.
I also worked with my City of London colleagues on these matters, utilising our relationships with the City UK and the IRSG – a body jointly sponsored by TheCityUK and the City of London Corporation – it comprises senior practitioners from across the financial and related professional services industry and focuses on the promotion of regulation that encourages open and competitive markets across Europe.
The outcomes can now be judged as we make our way forward independent of the EU, but I remain active in seeking positive arrangements for all UK businesses in our new trading environment.
