Brexit presented a host of opportunities to the U.K. giving it the flexibility to tailor its own rules while maintaining high regulatory standards and open markets- Sunak
The Chancellor to the Exchequer, United Kingdom (U.K.) – Rishi Sunak, today, i.e., Thursday, July 1, 2021, pledged to make the financial sector of U.K. more lucrative as he shared his vision for its future, post-Brexit.
In his first speech at Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London, he said that Brexit presented a host of opportunities to the U.K. giving it the flexibility to tailor its own rules while maintaining high regulatory standards and open markets.
Taking it to twitter, Sunak tweeted,
Over the next few years, we will implement a sweeping set of financial services reforms.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) July 1, 2021
Sharpening our competitive advantage in financial services, continuing to deliver for our communities and working internationally to set higher global standards.https://t.co/flDTRBpxG3 pic.twitter.com/bN8mimU2Qw
With Brexit, U.K. had to severe ties with investors in the EU, triggering a shift in over 7,500 financial jobs from London to new hubs in the bloc. Last year, the Finance Ministry rolled out reviews to listings rules, fintech and insurance capital rules and today, Sunak said that there would be further public consultations on financial reforms.
Sunak said rules on prospectuses, which give investors information about companies that want to list, would be reviewed so that more companies can list on U.K. markets. The review of capital markets would focus first on immediate changes to remove the most ineffective and distortionary regulatory requirements, such as the share trading obligation and double volume cap.
The Finance Ministry will also define rules related to insurance capital. There will be a public consultation on safeguards on access to cash after the pandemic accelerated a trend towards cashless payments and bank branch closures. Besides, companies would be required to make a sustainability disclosure on the impact they have on the environment. As of now, sustainability disclosures have focussed only on climate.
Sunak tweeted,
We’re launching new requirements for businesses and financial products to disclose sustainability information and creating a global market for high quality voluntary carbon credits. #MansionHouse pic.twitter.com/rfeFAzpctQ
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) July 1, 2021
Sunak also announced the details for the sale of Britain’s debut sovereign green bond or gilt and a green savings bond.
Talking on green bonds, Sunak tweeted,
The UK’s new Green Savings Bonds will let you invest in projects that tackle climate change, improve biodiversity and create green jobs.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) July 1, 2021
During today’s #MansionHouse speech, I talked about how our Green Financing Framework will set out the types of ventures the bonds will fund. pic.twitter.com/6c1c41cq9L
There was hardly anything for Britain’s financial sector in the post-Brexit deal with the bloc. The bloc is yet to decide how much direct access it will grant U.K. in future, while trying to engineer a shift in clearing in euro derivatives from London to Frankfurt.
Sunak said that the focus should be on the 40 trillion pounds Chinese market. The only concern with regards to China is violation of human rights in the far western region of Xinjiang, where Chinese Government is trying to curb the Uyghur Muslims.
Apart from this, U.K. is also looking to strengthen ties with United States (U.S.) and establish a ground-breaking system of cross-border access for the sector with Switzerland.
