The European Commission and HM Treasury have today asked the European Central Bank and the Bank of England to convene a technical working group on risk management in the period around 30 March 2019 in the area of financial services.

Responding, Chief Executive of UK Finance Stephen Jones commented:

?Today's joint announcement provides a significant and welcome step in ensuring that financial services firms can continue to meet the needs of their customers across the EU as well as the UK. It is positive to see the European Commission and the UK Government taking a pragmatic and prudent approach in managing potential risks in March 2019 resulting from the UK's exit from the EU.

?We hope that this joint technical working group will be able to provide firms and customers on both sides of the Channel with sufficient legal and regulatory certainty around issues such as contractual continuity and access to data.?

Notes to Editor

1. UK Finance is a trade association formed on 1 July 2017 to represent the finance and banking industry operating in the UK. It represents around 300 firms in the UK providing credit, banking, markets and payment-related services. The new organisation brings together most of the activities previously carried out by the Asset Based Finance Association, the British Bankers? Association, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Financial Fraud Action UK, Payments UK and the UK Cards Association
2. Please see today's announcements from the European Commission here and HM Treasury here.
3. UK Finance published a paper in November 2017: Supporting Europe's Economies and Citizens: a modern approach to financial services in an EU-UK Trade Agreement.  The report offers an ambitious trade in services framework to enable trade in banking and capital markets services across both the EU and UK following the UK's exit from the EU.