FT Money has scrutinised the small print, to reveal where Brexit could put your finances most at risk, and where a divorce from the EU could be welcomed. Some excerpts:
The UK government has said two years is too short a time to finalise what would be one of the most complicated divorces in history. Policy experts also warn two years that may not be long enough for civil servants to review and redraft the compendium of detailed financial regulations that the UK has taken on from Europe over the past four decades.
Investor advocacy groups, however, warn that a Britain outside Europe might permit a weakening of controls on the behaviour of banks and asset managers because of the outsized role of financial services in our economy.
Mick McAteer, the head of the Financial Inclusion Centre and a former member of the board of market regulator the Financial Conduct Authority, says: “What you could have after a Brexit is a government that takes more and more notice of those siren voices that call for less regulation of financial services because it’s a ‘burden’ that makes the City ‘less competitive’.”
Private investors, on the other hand, are keen for their stockbroker to find them the best available price for any shares or bonds they wish to buy. A sweeping and hugely ambitious piece of EU legislation called Mifid II, which has been hotly debated for years and delayed because of the massive technical work required to implement it, aims to compel brokers to do the best job for investors.
“Say you want to buy [shares in] Air France,” explains Guillaume Prache, the managing director of BETTER FINANCE, a trade body that represents retail and institutional investors. “Mifid II gives your broker the duty to search all the exchanges this share is listed on to find you the best price, instead of having a relationship with only one exchange, which is much easier for the broker.”
Please read the full FT article by Naomi Rovnick here.