City of London Asks For Bank Regulation Changes In Light Of Brexit

Regulators in the U.K. are being called on to keep banks competitive on a global basis once they exit the European Union (EU), reported Reuters.

According to the news report – citing Catherine McGuinness, the City of London’s financial district’s policy chief – Britain must examine how it will regulate banks, insurance firms and asset management firms after Brexit takes place in March of 2019. During a speech, McGuinness said that U.K. regulators will face a shift after Brexit, and that they would need the right powers and resources to ensure that banks remain competitive. She also said they need to “consider whether we need to look again at focusing on the competitiveness of the sector.”

While the Bank of England doesn’t want regulation to return to the “light touch” of the years before the financial crisis, bankers and lawmakers supporting Brexit want flexibility in how regulations are applied to the financial sector.

“The global financial services industry is more competitive than ever before,” McGuinness said. “Losing the slightest edge can be significant. That is why it is vital that we get Brexit right.” She noted that the government should quickly reach an agreement over its breakup bill with the European Union, so they can proceed to talks about the transition. Without a trade deal with the EU, leaving the Brexit would be costly, noted the report.

These comments come as Bank of America (BoA) recently said it hasn’t seen any benefits from the decision, according to news from Reuters. That’s according to Brian Moynihan, CEO of BoA, who told CNBC on Thursday (Oct. 26) that he hasn’t found any advantages of the historic vote from a business perspective.

“Without Brexit hanging over our heads, we’d just be plugging away, working for customers,” Moynihan said. “There’s no upside here.” The executive noted that the best Wall Street can hope for is that there aren’t any major distortions to the markets or flow of client assets when Britain’s exit from the EU occurs.