LONDON (Reuters) – The City of London will remain a competitive global financial centre after Britain’s full exit from the European Union because of the country’s commitment to open markets and robust rules, finance minister Rishi Sunak will say on Monday.
Sunak is due to address parliament at 1615 GMT about how Britain will support its 200 billion-pound ($263.04 billion)financial services industry.
Pro-Brexit lawmakers say leaving the EU gives Britain a chance to scale back on the bloc’s rules and boost the competitiveness of London, the world’s biggest financial centre after New York, as Asian centres like Shanghai gather momentum.
“Proposals to bolster the UK’s position as a world-leading green finance hub… are also expected along with plans to ensure the UK can seize the opportunities presented by new financial technologies, whilst protecting consumers and financial stability,” the finance ministry said.
The EU is Britain’s biggest financial services customer and full access to the single market ends on Dec. 31.
Brussels has yet to say how much access the City of London will have from January under its “equivalence” system, beyond temporary permission for UK derivative clearing houses.
The EU grants access for foreign financial firms if it deems their home rules to be equivalent or as robust as those in the bloc, a system Britain will also use for granting access to its financial markets from January.
Sunak will set out the government’s own approach to equivalence as Britain “builds a global role outside the EU”, the ministry said.
Sky News reported at the weekend that Sunak will also launch a review of UK listing rules.
The Daily Mail newspaper said Britain planned to start selling “green bonds” which raise funds earmarked exclusively for spending on projects that protect the environment.
(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by William Schomberg and Chizu Nomiyama)
