The UK and European Union will hold the first meeting of a new forum for regulatory cooperation on 19 October.

British and EU lawmakers in June signed a memorandum of understanding on regulatory cooperation which formed part of the UK's deal in exiting the economic bloc but was delayed as a result of issues surrounding Northern Ireland trade. The memorandum included an agreement for financial regulators to discuss issues facing both parties and their relationship.

The drawn out nature of the agreement has meant that the UK financial sector has become even more cut off from the EU than many in the City had expected post-Brexit.

While the forum will “serve as a platform to facilitate structured regulatory cooperation in the area of financial services pursuant to the Joint Declaration and this Memorandum of Understanding,” Brussels has maintained that it will not have any role in decisions about market access for UK financial firms to EU customers.

When it was announced in June, the UK government said that the forum would focus on the following goals: improve transparency; reduce uncertainty; identify potential cross-border implementation issues, including concerns linked to potential regulatory arbitrage by firms; as appropriate, consider working towards compatibility of each other’s standards; when relevant, promote domestic implementation consistent with international standards;
share knowledge to facilitate a common understanding of the EU and UK’s regulatory frameworks; and exchange information and views on other issues of common interest within the scope of these regulatory cooperation arrangements.

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