Trade Associations Urge Treasury to Ensure Certain Conditions for "Optimal" Brexit

SIFMA, American Bankers Association, Financial Services Forum, and Financial Services Roundtable urged the U.S. Treasury to work with its UK and EU counterparts to ensure "a smooth and transparent Brexit transition process."

The trade associations asserted that "[i]t would be optimal if" the process included certain basic principles:

• Brexit negotiations should be conducted in as transparent a fashion as possible and all sides should work together to deliver a functioning solution for all parties;
• stakeholders from the business community – including both U.S. and internationally headquartered financial services firms – with a presence in the UK and the EU as well as UK and EU firms with significant U.S. operations should be actively consulted about the issues to be addressed and the potential impact of solutions under consideration;
• both sides should seek to embed future arrangements in global standard setting (e.g., those initiated by the Bank of International Settlements, Financial Stability Board and the International Organization of Securities Commissions); and
• in order to minimize uncertainty, as early as possible in the Brexit negotiation process, policymakers should establish a timely provisional, transitional arrangement to help financial services firms navigate and adapt to any institutional or legal changes underpinning inter-EU/UK trade and investment relationships. Such an arrangement should be flexible to allow it to be extended, if necessary, to avoid market disruption and financial stability risks.

The trade associations concluded that their "members stand ready to share . . . their expertise about the functions of the markets and the potential effects of policy choices under consideration as well as other support that [the Treasury identifies] as needed to ensure economic growth and stability."