“European firms will be buying office space, hiring staff, and engaging legal and professional advisers in the UK.”
This will be the scenario on British soil after its divorce with the European Union, according to specialist financial services regulatory consultancy Bovill, as quoted by Reuters. A report by the news agency cited Bovill as saying that more than a thousand EU financial firms intend to open offices in the country to address the loss of passporting rights as a result of the split.
In the meantime, these companies – the likes of insurers, banks, asset managers, and payment firms – have entered the temporary permissions regime (TPR) in order to continue operating in the country while their UK entity is sorted out.
Of the abovementioned estimate, Bovill said 228 are from Ireland; 170, France; and 149, Germany.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) previously said that any European Economic Area passporting organisation wishing to continue their British operations will need to notify the regulator that they want to enter the TPR.
“After exit, firms who notified the FCA of their intention to use the TPR will be contacted and provided with a landing slot when they will need to submit their application for full UK authorisation,” noted the FCA.
“Upon authorisation, we will generally expect firms to have a physical presence in the UK to help ensure effective supervision.”
Following the delay in the UK’s departure from the EU, the regulator extended the date by which businesses should notify it for entry into the TPR to January 30, 2020. Fund managers had an earlier deadline of January 15 to inform the FCA if they wanted to make changes to their existing notification.
